Bill Text: NY S03124 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Prohibits the use of consumer credit history in hiring, employment and licensing determinations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-29 - RECOMMIT, ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN [S03124 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S03124-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3124 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 4, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting the disclosure or use of a person's consumer credit history to an employ- er, labor organization, employment agency or agent thereof for purposes of employment decisions The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 380-a of the general business law is amended by 2 adding a new subdivision (u) to read as follows: 3 (u) The term "consumer credit history" means an individual's credit 4 worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity or payment history, as 5 indicated by: 6 (1) a consumer credit report; 7 (2) credit score; or 8 (3) information an employer obtains directly from the individual 9 regarding (i) details about credit accounts, including the individual's 10 number of credit accounts, late or missed payments, charged-off debts, 11 items in collections, credit limit or prior credit report inquiries, or 12 (ii) bankruptcies, judgments or liens. 13 A consumer credit report shall include any written or other communi- 14 cation of any information by a consumer reporting agency that bears on a 15 consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, credit capacity or credit 16 history. 17 § 2. Subdivision (d) of section 380-b of the general business law is 18 relettered subdivision (f) and two new subdivisions (d) and (e) are 19 added to read as follows: 20 (d) (1) Except as provided in this subdivision, it shall be an unlaw- 21 ful discriminatory practice for an employer, labor organization, employ- 22 ment agency or any agent thereof to request or to use, and a violation 23 of this article for any person to disclose, for employment purposes the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01243-01-9S. 3124 2 1 consumer credit history of an applicant for employment or employee, or 2 otherwise discriminate against an applicant or employee with regard to 3 hiring, compensation, or the terms, conditions or privileges of employ- 4 ment based on the consumer credit history of the applicant or employee. 5 (2) Paragraph one of this subdivision shall not apply to: 6 (i) an employer, or agent thereof, that is required by state or feder- 7 al law or regulations or by a self-regulatory organization as defined in 8 section 3(a)(26) of the securities exchange act of 1934, as amended to 9 use an individual's consumer credit history for employment purposes; 10 (ii) persons applying for positions as or employed: 11 (A) as peace officers or police officers, as those terms are defined 12 in subdivisions thirty-three and thirty-four of section 1.20 of the 13 criminal procedure law, respectively, or in a position with a law 14 enforcement or investigative function in a law enforcement agency; 15 (B) in a position in which an employee is required to be bonded under 16 local, state or federal law; 17 (C) in a position in which an employee is required to posses security 18 clearance under federal law or the law of any state; 19 (D) in a non-clerical position having regular access to trade secrets, 20 intelligence information or national security information; 21 (E) in a position: (I) having access to third party, consumer or 22 employer funds or assets valued at ten thousand dollars or more; or (II) 23 that involves a fiduciary responsibility to the employer with the 24 authority to enter financial agreements or initiate, modify or approve 25 payments, valued at ten thousand dollars or more on behalf of the 26 employer; or 27 (F) in a position with regular duties that allow the employee to 28 design, monitor, access, provision access and/or modify (I) systems, 29 applications or databases containing confidential employer and/or 30 customer data; or (II) digital security systems established to prevent 31 the unauthorized use of the employer's or client's networks or data- 32 bases. 33 (3) Paragraph one of this subdivision shall not be construed to affect 34 the obligations of persons required by state or local law relating to 35 disclosures by public employees of conflicts of interest. 36 (4) As used in this subdivision: 37 (i) The term "intelligence information" means records and data 38 compiled for the purpose of criminal investigation or counterterrorism, 39 including records and data relating to the order or security of a 40 correctional facility, reports of informants, investigators or other 41 persons, or from any type of surveillance associated with an identifi- 42 able individual, or investigation or analysis of potential terrorist 43 threats. 44 (ii) The term "national security information" means any knowledge 45 relating to the national defense or foreign relations of the United 46 States, regardless of its physical form or characteristics, that is 47 owned by, produced by or for, or is under the control of the United 48 States government and is defined as such by the United States government 49 and its agencies and departments. 50 (iii) The term "trade secrets" means information that: (A) derives 51 independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being general- 52 ly known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by 53 other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use; 54 (B) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circum- 55 stances to maintain its secrecy; and (C) can reasonably be said to be 56 the end product of significant innovation.S. 3124 3 1 The term "trade secrets" does not include general proprietary company 2 information such as handbooks and policies. The term "regular access to 3 trade secrets" does not include access to or the use of client, customer 4 or mailing lists. 5 (5) Nothing in this subdivision shall preclude an employer from 6 requesting or receiving consumer credit history information pursuant to 7 a lawful subpoena, court order or law enforcement investigation. 8 (6) Paragraph one of this subdivision shall not apply to any city with 9 a population of one million or more. 10 (e) (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, it shall be 11 an unlawful discriminatory practice for any state or municipal agency to 12 request or use, and a violation of this article for any person to 13 disclose, for licensing or permitting purposes information contained in 14 the consumer credit history of an applicant, licensee or permittee for 15 licensing or permitting purposes. 16 (2) Paragraph one of this subdivision shall not apply to an agency 17 required by state or federal law or regulations to use an individual's 18 consumer credit history for licensing or permitting purposes. 19 (3) Paragraph one of this subdivision shall not be construed to affect 20 the ability of an agency to consider an applicant's, licensee's, regis- 21 trant's or permittee's failure to pay any tax, fine, penalty or fee for 22 which liability has been admitted by the person liable therefor, or for 23 which judgment has been entered by a court or administrative tribunal of 24 competent jurisdiction, or any tax for which a government agency has 25 issued a warrant, or a lien or levy on property. 26 (4) Nothing in this subdivision shall preclude a licensing agency from 27 requesting, receiving, or using consumer credit history information 28 obtained pursuant to a lawful subpoena, court order or law enforcement 29 investigation. 30 (5) Paragraph one of this subdivision shall not apply to any city with 31 a population of one million or more. 32 § 3. The division of human rights shall request information from state 33 and local agencies and non-governmental employers regarding the agen- 34 cies' and employers' use of the exemptions established in subdivision 35 (d) of section 380-b of the general business law as added by section two 36 of this act for purposes of hiring and employment. Within two years of 37 the effective date of this act, the division of human rights shall 38 submit to the legislature a report concerning the results of such 39 request and any relevant feedback from agencies and employers. 40 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after 41 it shall have become a law.
