The Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (“GENDA”) was signed into law by Governor Cuomo in January 2019.  The law added gender expression and gender identity to the State’s Human Rights Law as a protected class and prohibits unlawful discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on a person’s gender identity or expression.

GENDA defines gender

As discussed in my recent blog, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in its McLaren Macomb  decision has ruled that confidentiality clauses which prohibit an employee from disclosing the terms of her or his severance agreement and clauses that prohibit an employee from disparaging their employer as conditions to receipt of a severance payment

It has long been common practice for employers to require a terminated employee to sign a separation agreement as a condition to receiving a severance payment. Such agreements usually include, among other things, the amount and timing of such payments, a general release in favor of the employer (including specific age discrimination waivers if the

New York state now requires all health care workers to receive a COVID-19 booster shot within two weeks of becoming eligible. An individual is considered eligible for the booster five months after receiving the second shot in a two-dose regime (either the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine) or two months after receiving the J&J single dose

New York Governor Kathy Hochul recently signed S.B. 4394, an amendment of Section 740 of the New York Labor Law that amounts to a significant expansion of safeguards for whistleblowers. Effective January 26, 2022, the new law broadens the definition of retaliation, creates new notice and reporting requirements, extends certain protections to former employees and

As we discussed in an earlier related blog post, effective March 31, 2021, the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”) legalized the use of recreational marijuana for adults who are 21 and older and amended New York Labor Law 201(d), among other revisions, to prohibit employers from discriminating against an employee for such employee’s

On Nov. 1, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an amendment to the New York Paid Family Leave Benefits Law (the “PFL”) expanding the definition of “family member” for the purposes of the PFL to include biological or adopted siblings, half-siblings, and step-siblings. The current definition of “family member” covers children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren,