Bill Text: NY A03784 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Increases the monetary penalties for the crimes of aggravated harassment in the first or second degrees or for discrimination; provides that the penalty shall be not less than one thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars for the first violation and not less than twenty-five hundred dollars nor more than twelve thousand five hundred dollars for each subsequent violation.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-08 - referred to governmental operations [A03784 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-A03784-Introduced.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________
3784
2013-2014 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 29, 2013
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JACOBS, GALEF -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A.
BOYLAND, COLTON, DINOWITZ, FARRELL, HIKIND, LAVINE, MILLMAN,
O'DONNELL, PERRY, RIVERA, ROBINSON, SWEENEY, WEISENBERG -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the civil rights law and the executive law, in relation
to increasing the monetary and criminal penalties for aggravated
harassment or discrimination
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 40-c of the civil rights law, as
2 amended by chapter 2 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
3 2. No person shall, because of race, creed, color, national origin,
4 sex, marital status, sexual orientation or disability, as such term is
5 defined in section two hundred ninety-two of the executive law, be
6 subjected to any discrimination in his or her civil rights, or to any
7 harassment, as defined in section [240.25] 240.26 of the penal law, in
8 the exercise thereof, by any other person or by any firm, corporation or
9 institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state.
10 S 2. Section 40-d of the civil rights law, as amended by chapter 191
11 of the laws of 1982, is amended to read as follows:
12 S 40-d. Penalty for violation. Any person who shall violate any of the
13 provisions of the foregoing section, or subdivision three of section
14 240.30 or section 240.31 of the penal law, or who shall aid or incite
15 the violation of any of said provisions shall for [each and every] THE
16 FIRST violation thereof be liable to a penalty of not less than one
17 [hundred] THOUSAND dollars nor more than [five hundred] TEN THOUSAND
18 dollars, AND FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION THEREOF BE LIABLE TO A PENAL-
19 TY OF NOT LESS THAN TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS NOR MORE THAN TWELVE
20 THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS, to be recovered by the person aggrieved
21 thereby in any court of competent jurisdiction in the county in which
22 the defendant shall reside. In addition, any person who shall violate
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03023-01-3
A. 3784 2
1 any of the provisions of the foregoing section shall be deemed guilty of
2 a class [A misdemeanor] E FELONY FOR THE FIRST VIOLATION THEREOF AND A
3 CLASS D FELONY FOR ANY SUBSEQUENT VIOLATION THEREOF. At or before the
4 commencement of any action under this section, notice thereof shall be
5 served upon the attorney general.
6 S 3. Paragraph a of subdivision 3 of section 297 of the executive law,
7 as amended by section 11 of part D of chapter 405 of the laws of 1999,
8 is amended to read as follows:
9 a. If in the judgment of the division the circumstances so warrant, it
10 may, at any time after the filing of the complaint, endeavor to elimi-
11 nate such unlawful discriminatory practice by conference, conciliation
12 and persuasion. Each conciliation agreement shall include provisions
13 requiring the respondent to refrain from the commission of unlawful
14 discriminatory practices in the future and may contain such further
15 provisions as may be agreed upon by the division, the complainant, and
16 the respondent, including PAYMENT BY THE RESPONDENT OF CIVIL FINES AND
17 PENALTIES PROVIDED IN SUBDIVISION FOUR OF THIS SECTION AND a provision
18 for the entry in the supreme court in any county in the judicial
19 district where the alleged unlawful discriminatory practice was commit-
20 ted, or where any respondent resides or maintains an office for the
21 transaction of business, or where the housing accommodation, land or
22 commercial space specified in the complaint is located, of a consent
23 decree embodying the terms of the conciliation agreement. The division
24 shall not disclose what has transpired in the course of such endeavors.
25 S 4. Paragraph c of subdivision 4 of section 297 of the executive law,
26 as amended by chapter 166 of the laws of 2000, subparagraph (vi) as
27 amended by section 1 of part AA of chapter 57 of the laws of 2009, is
28 amended to read as follows:
29 c. Within one hundred eighty days after the commencement of such hear-
30 ing, a determination shall be made and an order served as hereinafter
31 provided. If, upon all the evidence at the hearing, the commissioner
32 shall find that a respondent has engaged in any unlawful discriminatory
33 practice as defined in this article, the commissioner shall state find-
34 ings of fact and shall issue and cause to be served on such respondent
35 an order, based on such findings and setting them forth, and including
36 such of the following provisions as in the judgment of the division will
37 effectuate the purposes of this article: (i) requiring such respondent
38 to cease and desist from such unlawful discriminatory practice; (ii)
39 requiring such respondent to take such affirmative action, including
40 (but not limited to) hiring, reinstatement or upgrading of employees,
41 with or without back pay, restoration to membership in any respondent
42 labor organization, admission to or participation in a guidance program,
43 apprenticeship training program, on-the-job training program or other
44 occupational training or retraining program, the extension of full,
45 equal and unsegregated accommodations, advantages, facilities and privi-
46 leges to all persons, granting the credit which was the subject of any
47 complaint, evaluating applicants for membership in a place of accommo-
48 dation without discrimination based on race, creed, color, national
49 origin, sex, disability or marital status, and without retaliation or
50 discrimination based on opposition to practices forbidden by this arti-
51 cle or filing a complaint, testifying or assisting in any proceeding
52 under this article; (iii) awarding of compensatory damages to the person
53 aggrieved by such practice; (iv) awarding of punitive damages, in cases
54 of housing discrimination only, in an amount not to exceed ten thousand
55 dollars, to the person aggrieved by such practice; (v) requiring payment
56 to the state of profits obtained by a respondent through the commission
A. 3784 3
1 of unlawful discriminatory acts described in subdivision three-b of
2 section two hundred ninety-six of this article; [and] (vi) assessing
3 civil fines and penalties, in an amount not to exceed fifty thousand
4 dollars, to be paid to the state by a respondent found to have committed
5 an unlawful discriminatory act, or not to exceed one hundred thousand
6 dollars to be paid to the state by a respondent found to have committed
7 an unlawful discriminatory act which is found to be willful, wanton or
8 malicious; AND (vii) requiring a report of the manner of compliance. If,
9 upon all the evidence, the commissioner shall find that a respondent has
10 not engaged in any such unlawful discriminatory practice, he or she
11 shall state findings of fact and shall issue and cause to be served on
12 the complainant an order based on such findings and setting them forth
13 dismissing the said complaint as to such respondent. A copy of each
14 order issued by the commissioner shall be delivered in all cases to the
15 attorney general, the secretary of state, if he or she has issued a
16 license to the respondent, and such other public officers as the divi-
17 sion deems proper, and if any such order issued by the commissioner
18 concerns a regulated creditor, the commissioner shall forward a copy of
19 any such order to the superintendent. A copy of any complaint filed
20 against any respondent who has previously entered into a conciliation
21 agreement pursuant to paragraph a of subdivision three of this section
22 or as to whom an order of the division has previously been entered
23 pursuant to this paragraph shall be delivered to the attorney general,
24 to the secretary of state if he or she has issued a license to the
25 respondent and to such other public officers as the division deems prop-
26 er, and if any such respondent is a regulated creditor, the commissioner
27 shall forward a copy of any such complaint to the superintendent.
28 S 5. Subdivision 10 of section 297 of the executive law, as added by
29 section 17 of part D of chapter 405 of the laws of 1999, is amended to
30 read as follows:
31 10. [With respect to cases of housing discrimination only, in] IN an
32 action or proceeding at law under this section or section two hundred
33 ninety-eight of this article, the commissioner or the court may in its
34 discretion award reasonable attorney's fees to any prevailing or
35 substantially prevailing party; provided, however, that a prevailing
36 respondent or defendant in order to recover such reasonable attorney's
37 fees must make a motion requesting such fees and show that the action or
38 proceeding brought was frivolous; and further provided that in a
39 proceeding brought in the division of human rights, the commissioner may
40 only award attorney's fees as part of a final order after a public hear-
41 ing held pursuant to subdivision four of this section. In no case shall
42 attorney's fees be awarded to the division, nor shall the division be
43 liable to a prevailing or substantially prevailing party for attorney's
44 fees, except in a case in which the division is a party to the action or
45 the proceeding in the division's capacity as an employer. In order to
46 find the action or proceeding to be frivolous, the court or the commis-
47 sioner must find in writing one or more of the following:
48 (a) the action or proceeding was commenced, used or continued in bad
49 faith, solely to delay or prolong the resolution of the litigation or to
50 harass or maliciously injure another; or
51 (b) the action or proceeding was commenced or continued in bad faith
52 without any reasonable basis and could not be supported by a good faith
53 argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law. If
54 the action or proceeding was promptly discontinued when the party or
55 attorney learned or should have learned that the action or proceeding
A. 3784 4
1 lacked such a reasonable basis, the court may find that the party or the
2 attorney did not act in bad faith.
3 S 6. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 298-b to
4 read as follows:
5 S 298-B. CIVIL PENALTIES. 1. ANY CIVIL PENALTY IMPOSED PURSUANT TO
6 SUBDIVISION FOUR OF SECTION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-SEVEN OF THIS ARTICLE
7 SHALL BE COLLECTED BY THE DIVISION AND SHALL BE DEPOSITED INTO THE
8 GENERAL FUND TO THE CREDIT OF THE DIVISION AND SHALL BE USED FOR THE
9 ORDINARY OPERATING EXPENSES OF THE DIVISION.
10 2. ANY PENALTY IMPOSED PURSUANT TO SUBDIVISION FOUR OR NINE OF SECTION
11 TWO HUNDRED NINETY-SEVEN OF THIS ARTICLE SHALL BE SEPARATELY STATED, AND
12 SHALL BE IN ADDITION TO AND NOT REDUCE OR OFFSET ANY OTHER DAMAGES OR
13 PAYMENT IMPOSED UPON A RESPONDENT PURSUANT TO SUCH SECTION.
14 S 7. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
15 have become a law.
