An Eye On Workplace Harassment Liability In NYC

Previously published in Law360, New York (May 21, 2009)

In recent months, a federal district court judge and a New York state court appellate judge have held that the New York City Human Rights Law ("NYCHRL") should be more liberally construed than its federal and state counterparts, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York State Human Rights Law.

In Zakrzewska v. The New School, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5183 (S.D.N.Y. 2009), the court held that there is strict liability for supervisory harassment and that the long-standing Faragher/Ellerth affirmative defense does not apply to claims brought under the NYCHRL.

In another recent decision, Williams v. New York City Housing Authority, 872 N.Y.S.2d 27 (1st Dept. 2009), the court effectively lowered the burden for plaintiffs to establish a hostile work environment claim from demonstrating that the conduct was "severe and pervasive" to simply showing that they were treated "less well" than other