As we reported in our blog post, and our summer newsletter, in late June, the New York Legislature passed a bill that vastly changed the discrimination and harassment landscape for employers. Today, Gov. Cuomo signed that bill into law.
As a result, employers likely now need to change their New York state-required anti-harassment policies and training. Specifically, policies and training should be reviewed to ensure that any reference to the severe and pervasive standard be eliminated and a strong emphasis be placed on the employer’s receptiveness to any and all complaints and how the employer will react swiftly to such complaints. Additionally, policies and training should be reviewed to ensure that they include the enhanced protections the law provides to other protected classes that previously only applied to sexual harassment.
Under the new law, employers can be held responsible even when an employee has not complained internally, so employers also should start making additional efforts to ensure their employees are happy and harassment is not occurring. It is also imperative for employers to play up their anti-retaliation provisions in this new construct – if employees are concerned they will be retaliated against, they are sure to not report problems to the company, and under this new law, they don’t have to. To accomplish both of these goals – instilling good morale and creating an open atmosphere where employees feel comfortable speaking to managers – employers might consider instituting town hall meetings or other similar touch-base meetings between management and employees, utilizing an anonymous hotline, hiring an ombudsperson, undertaking an immediate investigation of any complaints made (including those that do not meet the old standard of severe and pervasive), and providing and encouraging team-building activities. Perhaps most important, employers should ensure that management is present and engaged in all training and team-building activities and that management (not just those in human resources and legal) take immediate action with regard to any inappropriate behavior, not just behavior that meets the old standard of severe or pervasive.
The California Supreme Court has ruled that a former employee’s retaliation or discrimination claim can be dismissed at the initial stages of litigation via California’s anti-SLAPP statute. In Wilson v. CNN, decided July 22, 2019, the court overturned decisions of several courts of appeal that held otherwise and returned a strong tool to employers in defending against suits challenging an employee’s termination.
This is an update to a 
Earlier this month, Oregon passed its own paid family and medical leave act (the act), making it the eighth state in the country to pass such a law. Oregon joins California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut and the District of Columbia in providing paid family and medical leave benefits to employees.
Beginning in 2020, Nevada employers can no longer refuse to hire a job applicant for failing a preemployment marijuana screening test. The law, known as “AB132,” became effective on June 5 and is the first of its kind among the states. Although the law is limited in scope to drug screenings involving the presence of marijuana, it has broad implications for employers operating in Nevada (and potentially for employers in other states).
Colorado’s 2019 legislative session was busy, including producing a trio of new employment laws that tighten regulations on employers in the areas of pay equity, criminal history inquiries and wage theft. Employers face comprehensive changes and should review pay practices, application processes, advancement and promotion policies, and employee record-keeping to comply with these new laws. 