New York Just Took Aim At Sexual Harassment Laws That Once Protected The Harassers

The state legislature of New York is not playing around with the future of its workers. A new set of employment reforms, collectively known as Senate Bill S6577 and Senate Bill S6574, has dramatically increased the protections for workers in that state against sexual harassment — and made it much easier for victims to pursue a claim in court whenever necessary.

Many hope that S.B. S6577 and its companion, S.B. S6575, are signs of things to come and that other states will soon adopt similar measures of their own to combat the ongoing problems that allow sexual harassment "cultures" in some companies to continue to survive and thrive even in the wake of the #MeToo movement.

Here's what you should know about the new laws if you're an employee in New York who has suffered from sexual harassment.

1. Small employers are no longer exempt from discrimination laws.

Previously, only employers with five or more employees were affected by anti-discrimination laws, which can include discrimination and harassment based on gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity. (Federal anti-discrimination laws only apply to employers with fifteen employees or more, so the state law is actually more restrictive.)

This ends the carte blanche that many small employers had when it came to harassing or molesting their employees simply because they fell through a loophole in the law.

2. You can now sue an employer for sexual harassment even if you're not officially an "employee."

The new laws better reflect the "gig" economy that has developed in recent years by extending protections against sexual harassment to vendors, consultants, domestic workers (like maids and nannies) and independent contractors in all industries, including entertainment. (Federal law offers those types of workers no legal recourse if they're the victim of sexual harassment on the job.) 

This eliminates the gaps in the law that could make some workers easier targets for sexual harassment than other workers and puts them on an even legal footing when it comes to filing a claim for abuses.

3. Victims no longer have to prove that they did everything in their power to make use of corrective policies.

Companies used to be able to assert an affirmative defense that ended many sexual harassment lawsuits before they started by showing that a victim didn't avail themselves of whatever "opportunities" were in place to correct the problem and stop the harassment. However, that ignored the very real problem that many victims faced when it came to fearing retaliation and even worse harassment if they went "in house" to try to stop the harassment.

This change should allow more sexual harassment claims to move forward in court than ever before.

There are other important changes to the laws as well that could make it easier for you to file a valid claim for damages if you were sexually harassed or discriminated against based on your sex. Find out more about your rights by talking to a sexual harassment attorney today.