User:Naomi.D.G.Franco/New York Human Rights Law

New York Human Rights Law
The New York Human Rights Law (NYHRL) affords every citizen in New York State an "equal opportunity to enjoy a full and productive life." The NYHRL protects and requires persons the right of opportunity to obtain employment, to obtain education, to use places of public accommodation and to have ownership, to use and occupy housing accommodation and commercial space to be civil rights. The NYHRL provides strong protections against discrimination because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, marital status, or disability. The purpose of the NYHRL is to provide equal opportunity free of discrimination, prejudice, intolerance or inadequate education, training, housing or health care to protect the rights and privilege of the citizens of New York and to protect institutions and the foundations of a free democratic state.

History
The NYHRL was first signed into law a the Ives-Quinn Anti-Discrimination Bill in 1945 specifically targeting discrimination in employment. The legislation was the first of its kind in the United States that established a permanent agency to enforce a prohibition of discrimination based on race, creed, color, and national origin. In its early stages, the Law did not yet include the expanded protections for other at risk populations, but would continue to grow in coverage. In 1958 New York Local Law 80 prohibiting discrimination in private housing was passed. In 1968 the Ives-Quinn Anti-Discrimination Bill and New York Local Law 80 were combined and renamed the Human Rights Law of New York.

Expansion of the New York Human Rights Law
Over the next several decades after the New York Human Rights Law was officially established, it was periodically amended and expanded significantly to reach its now current comprehensive form. In1970, the NYHRL is expanded to prohibit discrimination by any New York City agency "on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, or age" and authorized receipt of complaints and investigations into discrimination by New York City agencies. In 1974 the NYHRL was expanded to include and protect people with disabilities. In 1991 the law was expanded to protect more families in the area of housing, in 1997 reasonable accommodation requirements for those with disabilities was added to the law. In 2002 religious practices and observances and in 2003 the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act amended the NYHRL to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and other protected characteristics. In its current form, the NYHRL is an expansive law that protects individuals from discrimination by an employer, licensing agency, labor organization, in housing, public accommodations, private businesses and more. Section 296 of the Law has been expanded to protect persons from being discriminated in these areas based on an individuals "age, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identify or expression, military status, sex, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status, or status as a victim of domestic violence."

Protections Beyond Federal Anti-Discrimination Law
The New York Human Rights law affords broader protections against discrimination than federal anti-discrimination statutes. For example, under the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") persons are only protected from discrimination if their impairments "substantially limits one or more of the major life activities." Conversely, under the NYHRL, a "medically diagnosable condition, or an impairment demonstrable by medically accepted techniques is a disability whether or not its limits a major life activity." Therefore, disabilities that don't necessarily limit a major life activity, such as suffering from panic attacks, would not be considered a disability under the ADA, but would be protected under the NYHRL.

The New York Human Rights law also prohibits discrimination in housing. In an expansion from the Fair Housing Act ("FHA"), the NYHRL prohibits housing discrimination in the "furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith." Another provision in the NYHRL expands the FHA and prohibits discrimination on the basis of a protected class in the terms, conditions, or privileges of publicly-assisted housing accommodations, or in the furnishing of these accommodations. The NYHRL also expands on the FHA by adopting a broader interpretation of the term "housing accommodation" and "dwelling" and prohibits discrimination in the selling, renting, or leasing of any building or structure occupied or intended to be occupied as "a home, residence or sleeping place."

The New York Human Rights law expands protections based on age. Where federal law prohibits discrimination against persons over the age of 40 in employment settings, the NYHRL bans discrimination against those 18 and over.

Commission on Intergroup Relations to the Human Rights Commission

 * The Commission on Intergroup Relations was created in 1955. The Commission on Intergroup Relations was empowered to implement the Ives-Quinn Anti-Discrimination Bill and investigate claims into discrimination and "tensions" based on race, religion, ethnicity, national origin and ancestry. In 1962 the Commission on Intergroup Relations was renamed the Commission on Human Rights.
 * The Commission on Human Rights is tasked with eliminating and preventing discrimination from "playing any role in actions relating to employment, public accommodations, and hosing and other real estate" and taking actions "against prejudice, intolerance, bigotry, discrimination, sexual harassment, and bias-related violence or harassment." The Commission also takes on initiatives that focus on guidance and information promotion in order to combat discrimination. For example, in 2021 the Human Rights Law was amended to expand protections for individuals employed as domestic workers. The Division of Human Rights provides information regarding who is covered by this expansion, what conduct is prohibited and what, if any, exceptions apply.

Bringing a Claim Under the New York Human Rights Law
When bringing a claim of discrimination pursuant to the NYHRL, aggrieved persons have the right to pursue a claim in state court, before the Human Rights Commission, or before a local commission on human rights. The burden of proof that a plaintiff has to prove in order to proceed with a claim before the Human Rights Commission is lower than the burden required by the state courts, and the NYHRL has been construed to limit appellate review of the Human Rights Commission decisions. That is, a New York court's review of a finding determined by the Human Rights Commission is limited to "a consideration of whether the division's determination in complainant's favor is supported by substantial evidence on the record" and a court "may not weigh the evidence or reject its choice where the evidence is conflicting and room for a choice exists." This forum selection provision in the NYHRL ensures access to redressability of claims of discrimination.

Key Cases
The New York State courts and the Second Circuit of the Federal Courts of Appeals has shaped the implementation and interpretation of the provisions of the New York Human Rights Law. Below are notable cases which expanded, contracted, or otherwise impacted the interpretation of the law.

Public Accommodations:

 * Cahill v. Rosa: The New York Court of Appeals determined that even when services are provided through a private premises, the operators are nevertheless subject to the New York Human Rights Law ban on discrimination of public accommodations because they provide services to the public. The court held that "Executive Law § 296 (2) (a) deems it unlawful discrimination if a place of public accommodation denies its accommodations to any person on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, or disability or marital status." And that "the health care professions are generally in accord with the Human Rights Law with respect to the issue of treatment of . . . patients--such persons may not be denied treatment solely because they have that disability."
 * Matter of North Syracuse Central School District v. New York State Division of Human Rights: A public school district is not an "education corporation or association" as those terms are contemplated by the New York Human Rights Law and therefore the Commission does not have jurisdiction to investigate complaints against school districts under the provision. The court interpreted the legislative history of the New York Human Rights Law to refer only to "private, non-sectarian entities" when applying the ban on discrimination in accommodations to education providers. This was a shift in the courts previous liberal application of the law.

Disability:

 * Sacay v. Research Found: the court found that there was no need for a plaintiff to show that their disability limited a major life activity under the New York Human Rights Law.

Sexual Orientation:

 * Sandiford v. City of New York Department of Education: the New York Appellate Division used a broad interpretation when determining a claim of retaliation based on sexual orientation and determined that testimony about another party's general derogatory remarks regarding gays and lesbians was sufficient to overcome summary judgment due to the broad nature of the New York State and City Human Rights Laws.

New York City Human Rights Law
In 1965, the City of New York passed a Human Rights Law that mirrored the New York State Law. The City of New York has expanded the state Human Rights Law to exceed the protections contained in the statewide human rights law. In the Committee Report on the proposed amendments outlined the background and intent of the new amendments citing the "notorious incidents of racially motivated violence" in New York City during the late 1980's. The new amendments were intended to "address the City's race relations problem by attacking entrenched patters of segregation, discrimination and bigotry" and would strengthen protection against discrimination in New York City. Specifically, these amendments increased individual and vicarious liability standards for discriminatory conduct. The amendments included expansions in liability in employer liability, housing, public accommodations and in instances of systemic discrimination and discriminatory harassment. The amendments also included a private right of action addition. Prior to the 1991 amendments, claims arising under the NYC human rights law could only be enforced by the commission on human rights. The Committee identified that these limitations denied "complainants the right to a jury trial and foreclos[ed] the possibility of recovering attorney's fees or punitive damages which could be recovered in state court."

In 2005 the New York City Human Rights Law was again expanded and amended to increase protections against discrimination beyond the New York State Human Rights Law. The 2005 amendments were especially impactful adding "domestic partnerships" as a protected classification in the law. The 2005 amendments also added a requirement that the City Human Rights Law be construed as "uniquely broad . . . regardless of whether federal or New York State civil and human rights laws, including those laws with provisions comparably-worded . . . have been so construed." Finally the 2005 amendments added that the Commission must conduct "thorough" investigations of alleged discrimination under the law and increased the penalties that the Commission was empowered to levy on violators of the law.

The City Human Rights Law has been expanded several times over the past 20 years. It's most recent amendments include expanding protections of discrimination against victims of abuse to include economic abuse and an expansion in relation to prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a person's height or weight in employment, housing, and public accommodations.