On Feb. 8, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Murray v. UBS Securities, LLC that plaintiffs bringing whistleblower retaliation claims under Section 1514A of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 do not need to prove...more
2/15/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Intent ,
Murray v UBS Securities LLC ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
The New York State Department of Labor (DOL) recently released updates to the state’s model sexual harassment prevention materials, including its model sexual harassment policy as well as its model sexual harassment...more
Recent Amendments to the New York City Fair Chance Act (FCA) that took effect on July 29, 2021, significantly expand the scope of the FCA by imposing new restrictions on an employer’s ability to take adverse action against...more
On Sept. 28, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law amendments to the NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (NYC ESSTA), which took effect on Sept. 30, 2020. These changes align the NYC ESSTA with New York State’s recently...more
On Sept. 30, 2020 New York’s general paid sick leave law (PSL) will go into effect. As outlined in detail in our previous alert, the PSL applies to all private employers in the state and requires all businesses that have five...more
As part of its approval of the state budget, New York State recently enacted a paid sick leave law that will apply to all private employers in New York starting this fall. Described by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office as “the...more
The New York City Commission on Human Rights (the Commission) has published guidance regarding an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) that expanded protections under the law to independent contractors and...more
1/24/2020
/ Breastfeeding ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Domestic Violence ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Misclassification ,
NYCHRL ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Sexual Assault ,
Stalking ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
On Sept. 12, 2019, the New York City Council passed a law, Int. 0136-A, that expands the scope of the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) to provide protections for freelancers and independent contractors....more
11/12/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Domestic Violence ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Local Ordinance ,
Misclassification ,
NYCHRL ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Retaliation ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour
As the New York State Legislature neared the end of the 2019 session in June, it passed several bills amending the state’s laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment. We addressed the major provisions of these new bills...more
8/19/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Arbitration ,
Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Faragher/Ellerth defense ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Labor Regulations ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
NYSHRL ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
The New York State Legislature passed several bills at the end of its 2019 session which, yet again, will impact New York employers. Some of the new legislation further amends laws that were implemented last year, which...more
7/22/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Arbitration ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Dress Codes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Faragher/Ellerth defense ,
Hairstyle Discrimination ,
Labor Regulations ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
NYSHRL ,
Punitive Damages ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Service Professionals ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour
In April 2018, as part of a major reform to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, New York enacted a law rendering pre-dispute agreements to arbitrate sexual harassment claims null and void “[e]xcept where inconsistent...more
On April 9, 2019, the New York City Council passed a bill that prohibits employers from conducting pre-employment drug testing for the presence of marijuana or tetrahydrocannabinols (THC). ...more
5/13/2019
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Decriminalization of Marijuana ,
Drug Testing ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Marijuana ,
Medical Marijuana ,
State and Local Government
On April 1, 2019, as part of New York State Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s “broadest, most sweeping [Fiscal Year 2020] state budget,” employees were granted additional paid time off to perform a fundamental civic duty — vote in an...more
This week, on Oct. 15, an amendment to the New York City Administrative Code went into effect requiring employers covered by the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) to engage in a good faith “cooperative dialogue” when...more
As we previously reported in our client alerts dated Sept. 4, 2018 and Sept. 17, 2018, effective Oct. 9, 2018, New York State employers are required to adopt and distribute a written sexual harassment prevention policy and...more
10/8/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Title VII ,
Tone At The Top
Effective Oct. 9, 2018, New York State employers will be required to provide annual anti-sexual harassment training to all employees, adopt a sexual harassment prevention policy, and provide to employees a complaint form for...more
9/26/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
As we previously reported, New York City and New York State (NYS) enacted laws in 2018 concerning workplace sexual harassment. Effective Oct. 9, 2018, New York State employers will be required to provide annual anti-sexual...more
9/18/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
New York City and New York State have enacted new laws in 2018 to combat workplace sexual harassment. These new laws mandate employers to, among other things, adopt policies and training on sexual harassment....more
9/5/2018
/ #MeToo ,
Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Complaint Procedures ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
Hostile Environment ,
New Legislation ,
NYCHRL ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Undoubtedly, the No. 1 topic in the employment world today is sexual harassment and the rise of the #MeToo movement. Indeed, it is one of the top issues in American society generally, touching all industries. ...more
The United States Supreme Court decided in Digital Realty Trust, Inc. v. Somers (Feb. 21, 2018) that the anti-retaliation provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) applies only to...more
2/28/2018
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Digital Realty Trust Inc v Somers ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Internal Reporting ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
In the fast-paced world of employment law, where scandals and groundbreaking lawsuits are front page news, more mundane requirements for documentation that employers provide to candidates and employees can fall through the...more
9/25/2017
/ Bonuses ,
Carve Out Provisions ,
Class Action ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) ,
Employee Handbooks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Over-Time ,
Paid Family Leave Law ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Parental Leave ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Severance Agreements ,
Sick Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft Prevention Act