The New York State Division of Human Rights has released its “Guidance on Sexual Harassment For All Employers in New York State.”
It provides, among other things:
The provisions of the [New York State] Human Rights Law generally apply to employers with four or more employees.
However, with regard specifically to sexual harassment, the Human Rights Law was amended … to apply to all employers, regardless of the number of employees. For sexual harassment occurring on or after January 19, 201[6], the effective date of the amendment (Laws of 2015, chapter 363), a complaint may be filed under the Human Rights Law against employers with any number of employees, including those with fewer than four employees.
By contrast, the federal anti-discrimination/sexual harassment statute – Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 – only applies to employers with at least 15 employees.
The Guidance also provides an overview of various provisions of the Human Rights Law – including the definition of sexual harassment, when an employer is liable for sexual harassment, and what constitutes retaliation – and cites the following examples of what may be unlawful sexual harassment: “[p]hysical assaults of a sexual nature”; “[u]nwanted sexual advances, propositions or other sexual comments”; and “[s]exual or discriminatory displays or publications anywhere in the workplace”.