A 5859: Enacts the "assuring college campus and educational safety and support (ACCESS) act" relating to harassment of students and applicants at educational institutions; describes the circumstances under which harassment at educational institutions is an unlawful discriminatory practice; describes the circumstances under which an educational institution is deemed to have permitted harassment; describes additional circumstances under which a college or university is deemed to have permitted harassment.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5859 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 24, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. LASHER, ROZIC, COLTON, CUNNINGHAM, DINOWITZ, EICHENSTEIN, GLICK, LAVINE, O'PHARROW, SAYEGH, SEAWRIGHT, ZACCARO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to harassment of students and applicants at certain educational institutions The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "assuring college campus and educational safety and support (ACCESS) 3 act". 4 § 2. Subdivision 4 of section 296 of the executive law, as separately 5 amended by chapters 202 and 748 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read 6 as follows: 7 4. (a) It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an educa- 8 tional institution to deny the use of its facilities to any person 9 otherwise qualified, or with respect to any program, class or activity, 10 to exclude from participation, deny the benefits thereof, or subject to 11 discrimination, or to permit the harassment of any student or applicant, 12 by reason of [his] such individual's race, color, religion, disability, 13 national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sexual orientation, 14 gender identity or expression, military status, sex, age, marital 15 status, or status as a victim of domestic violence, except that any such 16 institution which establishes or maintains a policy of educating persons 17 of one sex exclusively may admit students of only one sex. 18 (b) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, harassment 19 is an unlawful discriminatory practice when it subjects an individual to 20 inferior terms, conditions or privileges of services, regardless of 21 whether such harassment would be considered severe or pervasive under 22 precedent applied to harassment claims, because of the individual's 23 membership in one or more of the protected categories listed in para- 24 graph (a) of this subdivision. The fact that such individual did not EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD06519-05-5 
 A. 5859 2 1 make a complaint about the harassment to the educational institution 2 shall not be determinative of whether such educational institution shall 3 be liable. Nothing in this subdivision shall imply that a student or 4 applicant shall be required to demonstrate the existence of an individ- 5 ual to whom such student's or applicant's treatment shall be compared. 6 It shall be an affirmative defense to liability under this subdivision 7 that harassing conduct does not rise above the level of what a reason- 8 able victim of discrimination with the same protected characteristic or 9 characteristics would consider petty slights or trivial inconveniences. 10 (c) An educational institution shall be deemed to have permitted 11 harassment under paragraph (a) of this subdivision if such educational 12 institution fails to act with reasonable care to prevent acts of harass- 13 ment or to promptly curtail and remedy acts of harassment. 14 (d) A college or university shall also be deemed to have permitted 15 harassment under paragraph (a) of this subdivision if such college or 16 university fails to: 17 (1) promulgate rules that prohibit harassment, including but not 18 limited to harassment that is an unlawful discriminatory practice pursu- 19 ant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision; 20 (2) establish mechanisms and procedures for students and applicants to 21 report incidents of harassment; 22 (3) establish mechanisms and procedures to respond to and stop inci- 23 dents of harassment, and to investigate and adjudicate violations of 24 rules established in accordance with subparagraph one of this paragraph; 25 (4) provide for penalties sufficient to reasonably deter violations of 26 rules established in accordance with subparagraph one of this paragraph; 27 (5) clearly communicate to students, applicants, faculty, and staff 28 the rules, mechanisms, procedures, and penalties established in accord- 29 ance with subparagraphs one, two, three and four of this paragraph; 30 (6) consistently and effectively administer the rules, mechanisms, 31 procedures, and penalties established in accordance with subparagraphs 32 one, two, three and four of this paragraph; or 33 (7) take reasonable measures to prevent the presence on such college's 34 or university's campus or at college or university facilities and events 35 of individuals who are not affiliated with the college or university and 36 who engage in the harassment of students or applicants. 37 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.