Bill Sponsor and Chair of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance, Senator Alessandra Biaggi said, “On the first day of Women’s History Month, I am proud to stand with my colleagues to deliver this package of legislation aimed at strengthening New York’s sexual harassment protections. Last year, we witnessed a paradigm shift in our State’s culture– New Yorkers made it clear that workplaces that silence, stifle and abuse survivors of sexual harassment will no longer will be tolerated. As a Legislature, we must build upon this momentum and enact legislation that will protect working New Yorkers across all sectors and create a truly harassment-free New York. This is why I am proud to have two of my bills, S812A and S738, pass today. Both of these bills will strengthen sexual harassment protections in the workplace and provide survivors with the opportuntiy to freely speak their truth, without fear of retaliation. All survivors deserve the opportunity to openly seek justice, and only when we prioritize this, can we build a safer, harassment-free New York.

Bill Sponsor Senator Andrew Gounardes said, “Alongside the Sexual Harassment Working Group, NELA, and many other fierce and brave advocates, I have been working to close the personal staff loophole for years. I am incredibly proud that, today, we have finally won. And from banning ‘no rehire’ clauses in settlements to ensure that New Yorkers don’t lose their careers as a result of speaking out, to extending the statute of limitations for survivors to speak out another their experience, and ensuring that bosses can’t retaliate against survivors by releasing their private records, this package of bills go a long way to making sure workplaces are safer for New Yorkers all across the state. I am grateful to the advocates and survivors who have fought this fight alongside us, and I am eager to see these protections passed into law.”

Bill Sponsor Senator Brad Hoylman said, “New York’s Human Rights Law provides a powerful protection against discrimination and harassment, but its arbitrarily short statute of limitations for filing administrative complaints often benefit those who are discriminating and harassing. Our legislation (S.566A) to extend the statute of limitations for filing complaints with the Division of Human Rights from one to three years will give victims more time to come forward. I’m grateful for Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins’ continuing commitment to centering victims’ rights and strengthening ethics laws in Albany.”