Court rejected employee’s claims that permitting employees to speak only Japanese in business meetings, where individuals who do not speak Japanese are present and are without an interpreter, constitutes unlawful discrimination based on race/ethnicity.
On December 3, 2023, the NYC Council passed a bill requiring the Department of Consumer and Worker Production, in coordination with other entities, to publish a workers’ bill of rights on the City’s website.
The federal government, states, counties, and cities were active again this year passing workplace legislation intended for the most part to protect employees, creating new compliance obligations for employers.
On Nov. 17, 2023, the governor signed into law S4516, which amends Section 5-336 of the New York General Obligations Law to restrict certain terms from being included in release agreements involving claims of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
For the past several years, we have reported on employment and labor laws taking effect mid-year. Increasingly, new compliance challenges are not taking a summer vacation.
On May 26, 2023, New York City enacted an ordinance amending the New York City Human Rights Law to ban employment discrimination on the basis of a person’s height and weight.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has rejected an employee’s claim that he was unlawfully discriminated against based on religion after he refused to attend mandatory LGBTQ anti-discrimination trainings.
New York State’s Adult Survivors Act amends the state’s statute of limitations for civil claims alleging certain sexual offenses—which may include any unwanted sexual contact in the workplace—committed against individuals age 18 or older.
Governor Hochul signed into law New York State Assembly Bill A6328A, amending the New York State Human Rights Law to prohibit employment discrimination against employees and job applicants based on citizenship and immigration status.
