Bill Text: NY A08316 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person's height or weight in opportunities of employment, housing, and access to public accommodations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-04-28 - print number 8316a [A08316 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A08316-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person's height or weight in opportunities of employment, housing, and access to public accommodations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-04-28 - print number 8316a [A08316 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A08316-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8316 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY October 20, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ABINANTI -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting discrimi- nation on the basis of a person's height or weight in opportunities of employment, housing, and access to public accommodations The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (h) of subdivision 1, 2 paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subdivision 1-a, paragraph (a) of subdi- 3 vision 2, paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (c-1) of subdivision 2-a, subdi- 4 visions 3-b and 4, subparagraphs 1, 2 and 3 of paragraph (a), subpara- 5 graphs 1, 2 and 3 of paragraph (b), subparagraphs 1 and 2 of paragraph 6 (c) and paragraph (d) of subdivision 5, paragraph (a) of subdivision 9 7 and subdivision 13 of section 296 of the executive law, paragraph (a) of 8 subdivision 1 as separately amended by chapters 8 and 176 of the laws of 9 2019, paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 10 8 of the laws of 2019 and paragraph (h) of subdivision 1 as amended by 11 chapter 161 of the laws of 2019, paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subdivi- 12 sion 1-a, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2, subdivision 3-b, subparagraphs 13 1, 2 and 3 of paragraph (b) of subdivision 5, paragraph (a) of subdivi- 14 sion 9 and subdivision 13 as amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, 15 paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (c-1) of subdivision 2-a as amended by 16 section 3 of part T of chapter 56 of the laws of 2019, subparagraphs 1 17 and 2 of paragraph (c) of subdivision 5 as amended by section 5 and 18 paragraph (d) of subdivision 5 as amended by section 6 of part T of 19 chapter 56 of the laws of 2019, subdivision 4 as separately amended by 20 chapters 8 and 116 of the laws of 2019, subparagraphs 1, 2 and 3 of 21 paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 as amended by chapter 300 of the laws of 22 2021, are amended to read as follows: 23 (a) For an employer or licensing agency, because of an individual's 24 age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender 25 identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, disabili- 26 ty, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital 27 status, or status as a victim of domestic violence, to refuse to hire or EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13135-03-1A. 8316 2 1 employ or to bar or to discharge from employment such individual or to 2 discriminate against such individual in compensation or in terms, condi- 3 tions or privileges of employment. 4 (b) For an employment agency to discriminate against any individual 5 because of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, 6 gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, 7 disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, or 8 marital status, in receiving, classifying, disposing or otherwise acting 9 upon applications for its services or in referring an applicant or 10 applicants to an employer or employers. 11 (c) For a labor organization, because of the age, race, creed, color, 12 national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, 13 military status, sex, height, weight, disability, predisposing genetic 14 characteristics, familial status, or marital status of any individual, 15 to exclude or to expel from its membership such individual or to 16 discriminate in any way against any of its members or against any 17 employer or any individual employed by an employer. 18 (d) For any employer or employment agency to print or circulate or 19 cause to be printed or circulated any statement, advertisement or publi- 20 cation, or to use any form of application for employment or to make any 21 inquiry in connection with prospective employment, which expresses 22 directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or discrimination 23 as to age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, 24 gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, 25 disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, or 26 marital status, or any intent to make any such limitation, specification 27 or discrimination, unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualifica- 28 tion; provided, however, that neither this paragraph nor any provision 29 of this chapter or other law shall be construed to prohibit the depart- 30 ment of civil service or the department of personnel of any city 31 containing more than one county from requesting information from appli- 32 cants for civil service examinations concerning any of the aforemen- 33 tioned characteristics, other than sexual orientation, for the purpose 34 of conducting studies to identify and resolve possible problems in 35 recruitment and testing of members of minority groups to insure the 36 fairest possible and equal opportunities for employment in the civil 37 service for all persons, regardless of age, race, creed, color, national 38 origin, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, military 39 status, sex, height, weight, disability, predisposing genetic character- 40 istics, familial status, or marital status. 41 (h) For an employer, licensing agency, employment agency or labor 42 organization to subject any individual to harassment because of an indi- 43 vidual's age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, 44 gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, 45 disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, mari- 46 tal status, domestic violence victim status, or because the individual 47 has opposed any practices forbidden under this article or because the 48 individual has filed a complaint, testified or assisted in any proceed- 49 ing under this article, regardless of whether such harassment would be 50 considered severe or pervasive under precedent applied to harassment 51 claims. Such harassment is an unlawful discriminatory practice when it 52 subjects an individual to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of 53 employment because of the individual's membership in one or more of 54 these protected categories. The fact that such individual did not make a 55 complaint about the harassment to such employer, licensing agency, 56 employment agency or labor organization shall not be determinative ofA. 8316 3 1 whether such employer, licensing agency, employment agency or labor 2 organization shall be liable. Nothing in this section shall imply that 3 an employee must demonstrate the existence of an individual to whom the 4 employee's treatment must be compared. It shall be an affirmative 5 defense to liability under this subdivision that the harassing conduct 6 does not rise above the level of what a reasonable victim of discrimi- 7 nation with the same protected characteristic or characteristics would 8 consider petty slights or trivial inconveniences. 9 (b) To deny to or withhold from any person because of race, creed, 10 color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or 11 expression, military status, sex, height, weight, age, disability, fami- 12 lial status, or marital status, the right to be admitted to or partic- 13 ipate in a guidance program, an apprenticeship training program, on-the- 14 job training program, executive training program, or other occupational 15 training or retraining program; 16 (c) To discriminate against any person in his or her pursuit of such 17 programs or to discriminate against such a person in the terms, condi- 18 tions or privileges of such programs because of race, creed, color, 19 national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, 20 military status, sex, height, weight, age, disability, familial status 21 or marital status; 22 (d) To print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any 23 statement, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of applica- 24 tion for such programs or to make any inquiry in connection with such 25 program which expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, spec- 26 ification or discrimination as to race, creed, color, national origin, 27 sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, 28 height, weight, age, disability, familial status or marital status, or 29 any intention to make any such limitation, specification or discrimi- 30 nation, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. 31 (a) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any person, 32 being the owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or 33 employee of any place of public accommodation, resort or amusement, 34 because of the race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, 35 gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, 36 disability or marital status of any person, directly or indirectly, to 37 refuse, withhold from or deny to such person any of the accommodations, 38 advantages, facilities or privileges thereof, including the extension of 39 credit, or, directly or indirectly, to publish, circulate, issue, 40 display, post or mail any written or printed communication, notice or 41 advertisement, to the effect that any of the accommodations, advantages, 42 facilities and privileges of any such place shall be refused, withheld 43 from or denied to any person on account of race, creed, color, national 44 origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military 45 status, sex, height, weight, disability or marital status, or that the 46 patronage or custom thereat of any person of or purporting to be of any 47 particular race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, 48 gender identity or expression, military status, sex or marital status, 49 or having a disability is unwelcome, objectionable or not acceptable, 50 desired or solicited. 51 (a) To refuse to sell, rent or lease or otherwise to deny to or with- 52 hold from any person or group of persons such housing accommodations 53 because of the race, creed, color, disability, national origin, sexual 54 orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, age, sex, 55 height, weight, marital status, lawful source of income or familial 56 status of such person or persons, or to represent that any housingA. 8316 4 1 accommodation or land is not available for inspection, sale, rental or 2 lease when in fact it is so available. 3 (b) To discriminate against any person because of his or her race, 4 creed, color, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, gender 5 identity or expression, military status, age, sex, height, weight, mari- 6 tal status, lawful source of income or familial status in the terms, 7 conditions or privileges of any publicly-assisted housing accommodations 8 or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith. 9 (c) To cause to be made any written or oral inquiry or record concern- 10 ing the race, creed, color, disability, national origin, sexual orien- 11 tation, gender identity or expression, membership in the reserve armed 12 forces of the United States or in the organized militia of the state, 13 age, sex, height, weight, marital status, lawful source of income or 14 familial status of a person seeking to rent or lease any publicly-as- 15 sisted housing accommodation; provided, however, that nothing in this 16 subdivision shall prohibit a member of the reserve armed forces of the 17 United States or in the organized militia of the state from voluntarily 18 disclosing such membership. 19 (c-1) To print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any 20 statement, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of applica- 21 tion for the purchase, rental or lease of such housing accommodation or 22 to make any record or inquiry in connection with the prospective 23 purchase, rental or lease of such a housing accommodation which 24 expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or 25 discrimination as to race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orien- 26 tation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, 27 weight, age, disability, marital status, lawful source of income or 28 familial status, or any intent to make any such limitation, specifica- 29 tion or discrimination. 30 3-b. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any real 31 estate broker, real estate salesperson or employee or agent thereof or 32 any other individual, corporation, partnership or organization for the 33 purpose of inducing a real estate transaction from which any such person 34 or any of its stockholders or members may benefit financially, to repre- 35 sent that a change has occurred or will or may occur in the composition 36 with respect to race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, 37 gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, 38 disability, marital status, or familial status of the owners or occu- 39 pants in the block, neighborhood or area in which the real property is 40 located, and to represent, directly or indirectly, that this change will 41 or may result in undesirable consequences in the block, neighborhood or 42 area in which the real property is located, including but not limited to 43 the lowering of property values, an increase in criminal or anti-social 44 behavior, or a decline in the quality of schools or other facilities. 45 4. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an educational 46 institution to deny the use of its facilities to any person otherwise 47 qualified, or to permit the harassment of any student or applicant, by 48 reason of his race, color, religion, disability, national origin, sexual 49 orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, 50 height, weight, age or marital status, except that any such institution 51 which establishes or maintains a policy of educating persons of one sex 52 exclusively may admit students of only one sex. 53 (1) To refuse to sell, rent, lease or otherwise to deny to or withhold 54 from any person or group of persons such a housing accommodation because 55 of the race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender 56 identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, age, disa-A. 8316 5 1 bility, marital status, lawful source of income or familial status of 2 such person or persons, or to represent that any housing accommodation 3 or land is not available for inspection, sale, rental or lease when in 4 fact it is so available. 5 (2) To discriminate against any person because of race, creed, color, 6 national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, 7 military status, sex, height, weight, age, disability, marital status, 8 lawful source of income or familial status in the terms, conditions or 9 privileges of the sale, rental or lease of any such housing accommo- 10 dation or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection 11 therewith. 12 (3) To print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any 13 statement, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of applica- 14 tion for the purchase, rental or lease of such housing accommodation or 15 to make any record or inquiry in connection with the prospective 16 purchase, rental or lease of such a housing accommodation which 17 expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or 18 discrimination as to race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orien- 19 tation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, 20 weight, age, disability, marital status, lawful source of income or 21 familial status, or any intent to make any such limitation, specifica- 22 tion or discrimination. 23 (1) To refuse to sell, rent, lease or otherwise deny to or withhold 24 from any person or group of persons land or commercial space because of 25 the race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender 26 identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, age, disa- 27 bility, marital status, or familial status of such person or persons, or 28 to represent that any housing accommodation or land is not available for 29 inspection, sale, rental or lease when in fact it is so available; 30 (2) To discriminate against any person because of race, creed, color, 31 national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, 32 military status, sex, height, weight, age, disability, marital status, 33 or familial status in the terms, conditions or privileges of the sale, 34 rental or lease of any such land or commercial space; or in the furnish- 35 ing of facilities or services in connection therewith; 36 (3) To print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any 37 statement, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of applica- 38 tion for the purchase, rental or lease of such land or commercial space 39 or to make any record or inquiry in connection with the prospective 40 purchase, rental or lease of such land or commercial space which 41 expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or 42 discrimination as to race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orien- 43 tation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, height, 44 weight, age, disability, marital status, or familial status; or any 45 intent to make any such limitation, specification or discrimination. 46 (1) To refuse to sell, rent or lease any housing accommodation, land 47 or commercial space to any person or group of persons or to refuse to 48 negotiate for the sale, rental or lease, of any housing accommodation, 49 land or commercial space to any person or group of persons because of 50 the race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender 51 identity or expression, military status, sex, height, weight, age, disa- 52 bility, marital status, lawful source of income or familial status of 53 such person or persons, or to represent that any housing accommodation, 54 land or commercial space is not available for inspection, sale, rental 55 or lease when in fact it is so available, or otherwise to deny or with- 56 hold any housing accommodation, land or commercial space or any facili-A. 8316 6 1 ties of any housing accommodation, land or commercial space from any 2 person or group of persons because of the race, creed, color, national 3 origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military 4 status, sex, height, weight, age, disability, marital status, lawful 5 source of income or familial status of such person or persons. 6 (2) To print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any 7 statement, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of applica- 8 tion for the purchase, rental or lease of any housing accommodation, 9 land or commercial space or to make any record or inquiry in connection 10 with the prospective purchase, rental or lease of any housing accommo- 11 dation, land or commercial space which expresses, directly or indirect- 12 ly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as to race, creed, 13 color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or 14 expression, military status, sex, height, weight, age, disability, mari- 15 tal status, lawful source of income or familial status; or any intent to 16 make any such limitation, specification or discrimination. 17 (d) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any real 18 estate board, because of the race, creed, color, national origin, sexual 19 orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, age, sex, 20 height, weight, disability, marital status, lawful source of income or 21 familial status of any individual who is otherwise qualified for member- 22 ship, to exclude or expel such individual from membership, or to 23 discriminate against such individual in the terms, conditions and privi- 24 leges of membership in such board. 25 (a) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any fire 26 department or fire company therein, through any member or members there- 27 of, officers, board of fire commissioners or other body or office having 28 power of appointment of volunteer firefighters, directly or indirectly, 29 by ritualistic practice, constitutional or by-law prescription, by tacit 30 agreement among its members, or otherwise, to deny to any individual 31 membership in any volunteer fire department or fire company therein, or 32 to expel or discriminate against any volunteer member of a fire depart- 33 ment or fire company therein, because of the race, creed, color, 34 national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, 35 military status, sex, height, weight, marital status, or familial 36 status, of such individual. 37 13. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice (i) for any person 38 to boycott or blacklist, or to refuse to buy from, sell to or trade 39 with, or otherwise discriminate against any person, because of the race, 40 creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or 41 expression, military status, sex, height, weight, disability, or fami- 42 lial status, of such person, or of such person's partners, members, 43 stockholders, directors, officers, managers, superintendents, agents, 44 employees, business associates, suppliers or customers, or (ii) for any 45 person wilfully to do any act or refrain from doing any act which 46 enables any such person to take such action. This subdivision shall not 47 apply to: 48 § 2. Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 of section 296-a of the executive law, as 49 amended by chapter 8 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as 50 follows: 51 1. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any creditor or 52 any officer, agent or employee thereof: 53 a. In the case of applications for credit with respect to the 54 purchase, acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair or mainte- 55 nance of any housing accommodation, land or commercial space to discrim- 56 inate against any such applicant because of the race, creed, color,A. 8316 7 1 national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, 2 military status, age, sex, height, weight, marital status, disability, 3 or familial status of such applicant or applicants or any member, stock- 4 holder, director, officer or employee of such applicant or applicants, 5 or of the prospective occupants or tenants of such housing accommo- 6 dation, land or commercial space, in the granting, withholding, extend- 7 ing or renewing, or in the fixing of the rates, terms or conditions of, 8 any such credit; 9 b. To discriminate in the granting, withholding, extending or renew- 10 ing, or in the fixing of the rates, terms or conditions of, any form of 11 credit, on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, sexual 12 orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, age, sex, 13 height, weight, marital status, disability, or familial status; 14 c. To use any form of application for credit or use or make any record 15 or inquiry which expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, 16 specification, or discrimination as to race, creed, color, national 17 origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military 18 status, age, sex, height, weight, marital status, disability, or fami- 19 lial status; 20 d. To make any inquiry of an applicant concerning his or her capacity 21 to reproduce, or his or her use or advocacy of any form of birth control 22 or family planning; 23 e. To refuse to consider sources of an applicant's income or to 24 subject an applicant's income to discounting, in whole or in part, 25 because of an applicant's race, creed, color, national origin, sexual 26 orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, age, sex, 27 height, weight, marital status, childbearing potential, disability, or 28 familial status; 29 f. To discriminate against a married person because such person 30 neither uses nor is known by the surname of his or her spouse. 31 This paragraph shall not apply to any situation where the use of a 32 surname would constitute or result in a criminal act. 33 2. Without limiting the generality of subdivision one of this section, 34 it shall be considered discriminatory if, because of an applicant's or 35 class of applicants' race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orien- 36 tation, gender identity or expression, military status, age, sex, 37 height, weight, marital status or disability, or familial status, (i) an 38 applicant or class of applicants is denied credit in circumstances where 39 other applicants of like overall credit worthiness are granted credit, 40 or (ii) special requirements or conditions, such as requiring co-obli- 41 gors or reapplication upon marriage, are imposed upon an applicant or 42 class of applicants in circumstances where similar requirements or 43 conditions are not imposed upon other applicants of like overall credit 44 worthiness. 45 3. It shall not be considered discriminatory if credit differen- 46 tiations or decisions are based upon factually supportable, objective 47 differences in applicants' overall credit worthiness, which may include 48 reference to such factors as current income, assets and prior credit 49 history of such applicants, as well as reference to any other relevant 50 factually supportable data; provided, however, that no creditor shall 51 consider, in evaluating the credit worthiness of an applicant, aggregate 52 statistics or assumptions relating to race, creed, color, national 53 origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military 54 status, sex, height, weight, marital status or disability, or to the 55 likelihood of any group of persons bearing or rearing children, or for 56 that reason receiving diminished or interrupted income in the future.A. 8316 8 1 § 3. Paragraphs a, b and c of subdivision 2 and paragraph b of subdi- 2 vision 3 of section 296-c of the executive law, as added by chapter 97 3 of the laws of 2014, are amended to read as follows: 4 a. refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from internship 5 an intern or to discriminate against such intern in terms, conditions or 6 privileges of employment as an intern because of the intern's age, race, 7 creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, 8 height, weight, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, mari- 9 tal status, or domestic violence victim status; 10 b. discriminate against an intern in receiving, classifying, disposing 11 or otherwise acting upon applications for internships because of the 12 intern's age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, 13 military status, sex, height, weight, disability, predisposing genetic 14 characteristics, marital status, or domestic violence victim status; 15 c. print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any state- 16 ment, advertisement or publication, or to use any form of application 17 for employment as an intern or to make any inquiry in connection with 18 prospective employment, which expresses directly or indirectly, any 19 limitation, specification or discrimination as to age, race, creed, 20 color, national origin, sexual orientation, military status, sex, 21 height, weight, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, mari- 22 tal status or domestic violence victim status, or any intent to make any 23 such limitation, specification or discrimination, unless based upon a 24 bona fide occupational qualification; provided, however, that neither 25 this paragraph nor any provision of this chapter or other law shall be 26 construed to prohibit the department of civil service or the department 27 of personnel of any city containing more than one county from requesting 28 information from applicants for civil service internships or examina- 29 tions concerning any of the aforementioned characteristics, other than 30 sexual orientation, for the purpose of conducting studies to identify 31 and resolve possible problems in recruitment and testing of members of 32 minority groups to insure the fairest possible and equal opportunities 33 for employment in the civil service for all persons, regardless of age, 34 race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orientation, military 35 status, sex, height, weight, disability, predisposing genetic character- 36 istics, marital status or domestic violence victim status; 37 b. subject an intern to unwelcome harassment based on age, sex, 38 height, weight, race, creed, color, sexual orientation, military status, 39 disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, domes- 40 tic violence victim status, or national origin, where such harassment 41 has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the intern's 42 work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive 43 working environment. 44 § 4. This act shall not annul, alter, affect or exempt any employer 45 subject to the provisions of this act from complying with the laws, 46 ordinances, rules or regulations of any locality, except to the extent 47 that such laws, ordinances, rules or regulations are inconsistent with 48 any provision of this act, but no such law, ordinance, rule or regu- 49 lation shall be considered inconsistent if it affords equal or greater 50 protection to the employee. 51 § 5. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 52 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend- 53 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen- 54 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 55 completed on or before such effective date.
