A 6933: Imposes civil penalties; provides a private cause of action against entities knowingly encouraging a gambling addiction.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6933 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY March 18, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. VANEL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Racing and Wagering AN ACT to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in relation to knowingly encouraging a gambling addiction The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law is 2 amended by adding a new section 1363-a to read as follows: 3 § 1363-a. Knowingly encouraging a gambling addiction. 1. An entity 4 licensed under this article shall be guilty of knowingly encouraging a 5 gambling addiction where such entity, an employee, agent or another at 6 the entity's direction willfully engages human-to-human contact with a 7 person and through such contact knows or should have known that such 8 contact is inducing, exacerbating, or sustaining compulsive gambling 9 behavior or gambling disorder in another beyond reasonable and sustaina- 10 ble levels for that person. In determining whether an entity has know- 11 ingly encouraged a gambling addiction, a court shall consider: 12 (a) The income reported by the person to the entity; 13 (b) The total amount wagered; 14 (c) The level and type of contact between the entity and the person, 15 compared to other users of the entity's service; 16 (d) Communications between the person and the entity, and whether 17 those communications indicate the person explicitly indicated to the 18 entity that they suffer or may suffer from a gambling addiction; 19 (e) Communications between the person and the entity, and whether 20 those communications indicate the person implicitly indicated to the 21 entity that they suffer or may suffer from a gambling addiction; 22 (f) Whether the person has previously self-excluded themselves from 23 wagering; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10854-01-5 
 A. 6933 2 1 (g) Whether the person indicated to the entity that the money used to 2 gamble was acquired through sources that would indicate a gambling 3 addiction, such as savings accounts, loans, and other similar sources; 4 (h) Whether the entity internally flagged that the person had a gambl- 5 ing addiction and continued to provide gambling services to the person; 6 (i) Whether the entity failed to consider or input the relevant infor- 7 mation that would have flagged such person as a gambling addict; 8 (j) Whether the entity, after making a determination that the person 9 is or may suffer from a gambling addiction, failed to ban such person 10 from wagering on such entity's application; and 11 (k) The overall number of persons who developed a gambling addiction 12 after engaging in human-to-human contact with the entity, its employees, 13 agents or others at the direction of the entity. 14 2. An entity shall not be guilty of knowingly encouraging a gambling 15 addiction merely through the lawful passive or targeted offering or 16 communication to another of an entity's services through non-human-to- 17 human contact. 18 3. Where the commission determines that a violation of the provisions 19 of this section has occurred, the commission shall impose a civil penal- 20 ty not exceeding two times such amounts wagered by the person who is the 21 subject of the violation, provided however that where the commission 22 determines that the entity has engaged in a persistent course of conduct 23 in violation of this section, such amount shall increase to three times 24 such amounts wagered by the person who is the subject of the violation. 25 4. Upon a finding by the commission that an entity engaged in conduct 26 violative of this section against a person, such person aggrieved by a 27 violation of this section shall be entitled to maintain an action in the 28 supreme court of the county in which the person resides for the enforce- 29 ment of their rights under this section. Such person shall be entitled 30 to the full amount wagered, damages resulting as a consequence of the 31 addiction, and court and attorney's fees. 32 5. Any provision in a contract between a person and an entity which 33 eliminates or augments a person's rights with respect to the provisions 34 of this section shall be void. 35 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 36 have become a law.