The Labor & Employment Blog provides employers with breaking news, insights, and legal analysis on the wide range of labor and employment issues facing employers. While the Blog provides a general summary of regulation updates, it is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal advice. The labor & employment attorneys at Chamberlain Hrdlicka stand ready to counsel employers on the issues they face.
Annette Idalski, National Chair, Labor & Employment
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Larry Carbo, Shareholder
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Diana Perez Gomez, Shareholder
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Kellen Scott, Shareholder
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Leslie Tan, Senior Counsel
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Julie Offerman, Senior Associate
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Brian Smith, Associate
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Ray Abilmouna, Associate
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Joshua Smith, Associate
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James Fielding, Associate
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Chamberlain Hrdlicka Blawgs
This new era has ushered in increased legislative involvement as legislatures in several states have introduced measures aimed at curbing workplace sexual harassment and addressing how complaints and resolutions must be handled by employers. For example, the state of New York has recently adopted several new requirements aimed at addressing the manner in which employers deal with sexual harassment complaints.
On April 12, 2018, as part of the 2018-2019 New York State Budget, the Governor signed legislation aimed at combating sexual harassment in the workplace. But, New York employers were not given much lead time to comply as many deadlines have already passed. It is still not too late to come into compliance, however.
The legislation provides the following mandates:
- Effective July 11, 2018, employers are not permitted to institute mandatory arbitration agreements related to sexual harassment claims.
- Effective July 11, 2018, courts are prohibited from approving confidential settlement agreements for sexual harassment claims, unless: (i) confidentiality is the complainant's preference; (ii) the complainant has been given 21 days to consider the confidentiality provision; and (iii) the complainant is given 7 days in which to revoke his or her acceptance of the confidentiality provision.
- By October 9, 2018, all employers must enact an anti-sexual harassment policy that meets or exceeds the standards contained in a model policy put forward by the state of New York. You may find the policy at this link- https://www.ny.gov/sites/ny.gov/files/atoms/files/SexualHarassmentPreventionModelPolicy.pdf
- By October 9, 2018, all employers must adopt a sexual harassment training program, which must be equal to or exceed the standards of the model training program developed by the state of New York. The statute does not expressly address when employees must go through the training program. However, the best reading of the law is that new employees hired after October 9, 2018, should be put through the training program at the time of hire or shortly afterwards, while current employees must go through the training by at least October 9, 2019. After this initial training, all employees must undergo the training once annually. A copy of the model training is available at https://www.ny.gov/sites/ny.gov/files/atoms/files/SexualHarassmentPreventionModelTraining.pdf
For example, California, following in New York's footsteps, has clarified how important it is for employers to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. On September 30, 2018 Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 1300 into law. Of consequence for employers who may be litigating sexual harassment claims, SB 1300 provides that:
(d) The legal standard for sexual harassment should not vary by type of workplace. It is irrelevant that a particular occupation may have been characterized by a greater frequency of sexually related commentary or conduct in the past ...
(e) Harassment cases are rarely appropriate for disposition on summary judgment. In that regard, the Legislature affirms the decision in Nazir v. United Airlines, Inc. (2009) 178 Cal.App.4th 243 and its observation that hostile working environment cases involve issues "not determinable on paper."
For questions on ensuring enforceable arbitration agreements or independent contractor relationships in your business, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This Labor & Employment Alert provides a general summary of regulation updates and is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal advice.
- Shareholder
Annette A. Idalski is a labor and employment litigator. She represents employers throughout the United States and is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
Ms. Idalski has gained national recognition for her representation of employers ...