The NY Human Rights Law Protections You Should Know About

This article discusses the 3 major, but often little known, protections of the NY Human Rights Law offers New York state residents.

The NY Human Rights Law is a civil rights law expressed in Title 8.

 These are the 3 protections of the NY Human Rights Law that everyone should be familiar with:

1. Protection in Employment

• It protects against discrimination based on age, race, gender, color, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, religion, and disability.
• It protects against sexual harassment (in person and online) in the workplace.
• It protects potential employees in multiple parts of the hiring process, including against discrimination based on prior arrest or conviction records, credit history, prior unemployment status, and status as a victim of domestic violence, stalking or sex offenses.
• It protects interns (who are viewed as employees) from discrimination in the workplace.
• It protects against retaliation and harassment.

2. Protection in Housing (This includes rentals, home ownership, and lending.)

• It protects against discrimination based on age, pregnancy, religion, race, gender, color, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, and disability.
• It protects against discrimination based on family status and presence of children, lawful sources of income, and lawful occupations.
• It protects against retaliation and harassment.

3. Protection in Public Accommodations (Public accommodations include: stores, markets, taxis, theaters, doctor’s offices, sports arenas, etc.)

• It protects against discrimination based on age, pregnancy, religion, race, gender, color, national origin, sexual orientation, marital status, and disability.
• It protects against discriminatory or biased-based profiling by law enforcement.

If you have questions or would like to find out when and how to file a complaint of discrimination in New York, send us a message.