FILE - Then-New York Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul gives a news conference at the state Capitol, Aug. 11, 2021 in Albany, N.Y. All New York public employees are now protected from harassment in the workplace and employers are prohibited from releasing personnel files to retaliate against alleged victims, as part of a package of new laws signed by Gov. Hochul on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink) The Associated Press
New York expanded workplace harassment protection for all public employees and banned the release of anyone's employment records in retaliation for speaking up about alleged abuse, part of a package of new laws signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday.
State law had previously excluded personal staff of elected officials and judges from anti-discrimination protection under New York’s Human Rights Law. Another bill launches a statewide, confidential hotline to report sexual harassment in both the pubic and private sector.
Democratic lawmakers proposed the laws after an investigation into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo by the state attorney general's office. It found Cuomo, a Democrat, sexually harassed at least 11 women in violation of state and federal civil rights law. The report said Cuomo's aides leaked internal memorandums to undermine the first person to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment, former senior aide Lindsey Boylan.
“We saw what happened to Lindsey Boylan when she spoke up,” said bill sponsor Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas, a Queens...
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