S 2494: Provides that certain allegations made by employees involving employment discrimination shall be protected and matters of public interest in actions involving public petition and participation.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2494 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. GOUNARDES -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the civil rights law, in relation to actions involving public petition and participation The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 70-a of the 2 civil rights law, as added by chapter 767 of the laws of 1992, is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 (b) other compensatory damages may only be recovered upon an addi- 5 tional demonstration that the action involving public petition and 6 participation was commenced or continued for the purpose of harassing, 7 intimidating, punishing or otherwise maliciously inhibiting the free 8 exercise of speech, petition or association rights, or rights under any 9 federal, state, or local law preventing employment discrimination or 10 retaliation; and 11 § 2. Subdivision 1 of section 76-a of the civil rights law, as 12 amended by chapter 250 of the laws of 2020, is amended to read as 13 follows: 14 1. For purposes of this section: 15 (a) An "action involving public petition and participation" is a claim 16 based upon: 17 (1) any communication in a place open to the public or a public forum 18 in connection with an issue of public interest; [or] 19 (2) any other lawful conduct in furtherance of the exercise of the 20 constitutional right of free speech in connection with an issue of 21 public interest, or in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional 22 right of petition[.]; or 23 (3) any allegation, wherever made, concerning unlawful employment 24 discrimination under federal, state, or local law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02862-01-5 
 S. 2494 2 1 (b) "Claim" includes any lawsuit, cause of action, cross-claim, coun- 2 terclaim, or other judicial pleading or filing requesting relief. 3 (c) "Communication" shall mean any statement, claim, allegation in a 4 proceeding, decision, protest, writing, argument, contention or other 5 expression. 6 (d) "Public interest" shall be construed broadly, and shall mean any 7 subject other than a purely private matter. 8 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to all 9 actions commenced on and after such effective date.