Bill Text: NY S04396 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to retaliatory personnel actions by employers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-07-21 - referred to labor [S04396 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S04396-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4396--A Cal. No. 1116 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 11, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. RAMOS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor -- reported favora- bly from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place in the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to retaliatory personnel actions by employers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 1 of section 740 of the labor 2 law, as added by chapter 660 of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (a) "Employee" means an individual who performs services for and under 5 the control and direction of an employer for wages or other remuneration 6 or natural persons employed as independent contractors to carry out work 7 in furtherance of an employer's business enterprise who are not them- 8 selves employers. 9 § 2. The opening paragraph and paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of 10 section 740 of the labor law, the opening paragraph as added by chapter 11 660 of the laws of 1984 and paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 442 of 12 the laws of 2006, is amended to read as follows: 13 An employer shall not take any retaliatory personnel action against an 14 employee, whether or not within the scope of the employee's job duties, 15 because such employee does any of the following: 16 (a) discloses, or threatens to disclose to a supervisor or to a public 17 body an activity, policy or practice of the employer [that] which the 18 employee reasonably believes is in violation of law, rule or regulation 19 [which violation creates and presents] or which the employee reasonably 20 believes poses a substantial and specific danger to the public health or 21 safety, or which constitutes health care fraud; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00918-02-9S. 4396--A 2 1 § 3. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 4 of section 740 of the labor law, 2 as added by chapter 660 of the laws of 1984, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (c) It shall be a defense to any action brought pursuant to this 5 section that the personnel action was predicated upon grounds other than 6 the employee's exercise of any rights protected by this section. [It7shall also be a defense that the individual was an independent contrac-8tor.] 9 § 4. Paragraphs (b), (d) and (e) of subdivision 5 of section 740 of 10 the labor law, as added by chapter 660 of the laws of 1984, are amended 11 to read as follows: 12 (b) the reinstatement of the employee to the same position held before 13 the retaliatory personnel action, or to an equivalent position, or front 14 pay in lieu thereof; 15 (d) the compensation for lost wages, benefits and other remuneration; 16 [and] 17 (e) the payment by the employer of reasonable costs, disbursements, 18 and attorney's fees; and 19 (f) the payment by the employer of punitive damages, if the violation 20 was willful, malicious or wanton. 21 § 5. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 22 have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediately, the 23 addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary 24 for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized 25 to be made by the commissioner of labor of the state of New York on or 26 before such effective date.