Bill Text: NY S02380 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Provides for the award of attorney's fees in actions under the human rights law.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-01-28 - PRINT NUMBER 2380A [S02380 Detail]

Download: New_York-2015-S02380-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2380--A
                               2015-2016 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 22, 2015
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Investigations and Govern-
          ment Operations -- recommitted to the Committee on Investigations  and
          Government  Operations  in  accordance  with  Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --
          committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended  and
          recommitted to said committee
        AN  ACT  to amend the executive law, in relation to providing for awards
          of attorney's fees in actions under the human rights law
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Subdivision  10  of  section 297 of the executive law, as
     2  amended by chapter 364 of the laws  of  2015,  is  amended  to  read  as
     3  follows:
     4    10.  [With  respect to all cases of housing discrimination and housing
     5  related credit discrimination in an action or proceeding  at  law  under
     6  this  section  or  section two hundred ninety-eight of this article, the
     7  commissioner or the court may in its discretion award reasonable  attor-
     8  ney's fees to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party; and with
     9  respect to a claim of employment or credit discrimination where sex is a
    10  basis  of  such  discrimination,  in]  In an action or proceeding at law
    11  under this section or section two hundred ninety-eight of this  article,
    12  the  commissioner  or  the  court  [may  in  its discretion] shall award
    13  reasonable attorney's fees attributable to such claim to any  prevailing
    14  [party;  provided, however, that a prevailing respondent or defendant in
    15  order to recover such reasonable attorney's  fees  must  make  a  motion
    16  requesting  such fees and show that the action or proceeding brought was
    17  frivolous; and further provided that in  a  proceeding  brought  in  the
    18  division  of  human  rights,  the commissioner may only award attorney's
    19  fees as part of a final order after a public hearing  held  pursuant  to
    20  subdivision  four of this section] plaintiff or complainant.  In no case
    21  shall attorney's fees be awarded to the division, nor shall the division
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06965-04-6