Senate Bill S5874

2013-2014 Legislative Session

Relates to the provision of attorney's fees in cases of housing, employment or credit discrimination

download bill text pdf

Sponsored By

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Assembly Committee


  • Introduced
    • In Committee Assembly
    • In Committee Senate
    • On Floor Calendar Assembly
    • On Floor Calendar Senate
    • Passed Assembly
    • Passed Senate
  • Delivered to Governor
  • Signed By Governor

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2013-S5874 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:
Assembly Codes
Law Section:
Executive Law
Laws Affected:
Amd §§297 & 296-a, Exec L
Versions Introduced in 2015-2016 Legislative Session:
S3

2013-S5874 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to the provision of attorney's fees in cases of housing, employment or credit discrimination.

2013-S5874 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2013-S5874 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
                    S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  5874

                       2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                              June 18, 2013
                               ___________

Introduced  by Sen. LITTLE -- (at request of the Governor) -- read twice
  and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee
  on Rules

AN ACT to amend the executive law,  in  relation  to  the  provision  of
  attorney's  fees  in  cases of housing, employment or credit discrimi-
  nation; to amend the executive law, in relation  to  the  awarding  of
  reasonable attorney's fees

  THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section 1. Subdivision 10 of section 297  of  the  executive  law,  as
added  by  section  17  of part D of chapter 405 of the laws of 1999, is
amended to read as follows:
  10. With respect to ALL cases of HOUSING  DISCRIMINATION  AND  housing
RELATED  CREDIT  discrimination [only] in an action or proceeding at law
under this section or section two hundred ninety-eight of this  article,
the  commissioner  or  the  court may in its discretion award reasonable
attorney's fees to any prevailing or substantially prevailing party; AND
WITH RESPECT TO A CLAIM OF EMPLOYMENT OR CREDIT DISCRIMINATION WHERE SEX
IS A BASIS OF SUCH DISCRIMINATION, IN AN ACTION  OR  PROCEEDING  AT  LAW
UNDER  THIS SECTION OR SECTION TWO HUNDRED NINETY-EIGHT OF THIS ARTICLE,
THE COMMISSIONER OR THE COURT MAY IN  ITS  DISCRETION  AWARD  REASONABLE
ATTORNEY'S  FEES  ATTRIBUTABLE  TO  SUCH  CLAIM TO ANY PREVAILING PARTY;
provided, however, that a prevailing respondent or defendant in order to
recover such reasonable attorney's fees must make  a  motion  requesting
such  fees and show that the action or proceeding brought was frivolous;
and further provided that in a proceeding brought  in  the  division  of
human rights, the commissioner may only award attorney's fees as part of
a  final  order after a public hearing held pursuant to subdivision four
of this section. In no case shall attorney's  fees  be  awarded  to  the
division,  nor  shall the division be liable to a prevailing or substan-
tially prevailing party for attorney's fees, except in a case  in  which

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD12051-01-3
              

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