October 1, 2018

Getting into Compliance with New York State’s Anti-Sexual Harassment Laws

New York State’s anti-sexual harassment laws require employers to update or create an anti-sexual harassment policy and employee training. Even existing policies and trainings likely need to be revised since the new law creates specific requirements that may not be in the current policies and trainings, including:

  • specifying how complaints will be handled;
  • encouraging employees to submit complaints;
  • giving examples of what constitutes harassment.

Employers who do not currently have anti-sexual harassment policies or trainings need to implement them.

 At the end of August 2018, New York State released a number of documents on its new anti-sexual harassment website. These documents exist to help employers get into compliance with the new laws, and include:

Although these model documents are still in draft form, employers must start to adapt and implement them, shortly. Anti-sexual harassment policies should be circulated to employees by October 9, 2018, and employees must be trained before January 1, 2019, and within 30 days of being hired.

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With Michael Bloomberg in the Race, It's Time We Talk About NDAs (again)

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Pregnancy Discrimination
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In 2018, Governor Cuomo signed a law that banned many NDAs and mandatory arbitration for complaints, but some activists and policymakers argued that the state had focused too narrowly on sexual harassment, and the 2019 laws expanded the 2018 laws to include protections against NDAs in other forms of workplace discrimination.

The Postpartum Ad the Oscars Wouldn't Run

February 24, 2020
Pregnancy Discrimination
Paid Family Leave
Sometimes reality is too real for Hollywood and the culture machine, as was demonstrated when ABC and the Academy decided not to air an ad dealing straightforwardly with the reality of postpartum life. The ad for Frida Mom, a retailer in the baby and new mother field, depicted a women confronting in a realistic manner the stress and changes that occur for new mothers.

Associate Alex Berke quoted in Mother Jones on Defamation and Sexual Harassment

February 18, 2020
Sexual Harassment
Alex Berke, an employment lawyer in New York, says she asks men what their goal is when they come to her after being accused of sexual harassment. Will a lawsuit really stop people from talking about them?

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