In Brown v. CBS News, Inc., No. 152570/2025, 2026 WL 1348982 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. May 10, 2026), the court, inter alia, summarized and applied the law governing the geographic applicability of the New York State and City Human Rights Laws.
It summarized the black-letter law as follows:
The NYSHRL and NYCHRL each separately prohibit employment discrimination based on, inter alia, race and sex or gender (Exec. Law § 296[1][a]; Admin. Code § 8-107[1][a]), and prohibit retaliation against those who oppose such practices (Exec. Law § 296[7]; Admin. Code § 8-107[7]). The NYSHRL additionally imposes liability upon any person who aids and abets such discriminatory conduct (Exec. Law § 296[6]), as does the NYCHRL (Admin. Code § 8-107[13][b]) which prohibits the maintenance of a hostile work environment predicated upon a protected characteristic (Admin. Code § 8-107[1][a]).“Courts must construe the Human Rights Laws ‘broadly in favor of discrimination plaintiffs, to the extent that such a construction is reasonably possible” (Syeed, 41 NY3d at 451).
These statutes were promulgated to protect those who live and/or work in the state and city (see Hoffman, 15 NY3d at 289-291 [NYCHRL addressed to “inhabitants”; NYSHRL addressed to individuals “within” state]). They apply extraterritorially only to address “certain discriminatory practices committed outside New York State against New York residents and businesses” (Hoffman, 15 NY3d at 292 [citing Sponsor’s Mem, Bill Jacket, L 1975, ch. 662, at 9]).
Therefore, a nonresident plaintiff may not invoke the protection of the NYSHRL and NYCHRL solely upon the ground that the employer’s adverse employment decision was made in New York State or City (id. at 291 [“although the locus of the decision to terminate may be a factor to consider, the success or failure of an NYCHRL claim should not be solely dependent on something as arbitrary as where the termination decision was made.”]). Rather, it is the location of the impact of the discriminatory conduct or decision, not the plaintiff’s residence, defendant’s principal place of business, or location of a discriminatory decision, that determines whether these statutes apply (id. at 290 [setting “impact requirement” where nonresident plaintiff invokes protections of NYSHRL and NYCHRL]; Murray v Brag Sales Inc., No. 23-cv-6610 (JPO), 2024 WL 4635479, at *2 (SDNY Oct. 31, 2024)] [finding that impact is felt in New York City only where the relevant workplace is also located in New York City].
Thus, to survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff seeking protection under NYSHRL and NYCHRL for failure to promote or hire, must “plead and prove that the alleged discriminatory conduct had an impact within those respective boundaries” (Hoffman, 15 NY3d at 289 [holding that “policies underpinning those laws require” plaintiff to plead and prove alleged discriminatory conduct had impact within State and City]). In this regard, a nonresident employee may establish subject matter jurisdiction for discrimination in violation of the NYSHRL and NYCHRL where she “is not yet employed in the city or state but [] proactively sought an actual city- or state-based job opportunity” (Syeed, 41 NY3d at 449). As the Court of Appeals explained, a nonresident who has been discriminatorily denied a job in New York City or State loses the chance to work, and perhaps live, within those geographic areas. The prospective employee personally feels the impact of a discriminatory refusal to promote or hire in New York City or State, because that is where the person wished to work (and perhaps relocate) and where they were denied the chance to do so.
(Cleaned up.)
Applying the law, the court concluded that plaintiff’s “allegations about the abusive and discriminatory conduct, derogatory comments, and consequent hostile work environment she suffered at the hands of Washington, D.C. supervisors and directors” all occurred outside New York State and City and, therefore, the NYSHRL and NYCHRL were inapplicable. In particular, plaintiff lived and worked in Washington D.C. throughout the relevant period.