Landlords, merchants, and employers now face up to $250,000 in fines for using terms and phrases like "illegal alien", "alien", and "speak english" when used in the context meant to demean, humiliate, or offend.
In their press release, the NYC Commission of Human Rights provided hypothetical examples of discriminatory behavior, including:
- Harassing a restaurant patron because of their accent;
- Refusing repairs on a unit occupied by an immigrant family and threatening to call ICE if they complain;
- Paying a lower wage or withholding wages to workers because of their immigration status; and
- Harassing a store customer by telling them to stop speaking their language and demanding they speak English.
*ATTENTION LANDLORDS AND EMPLOYERS* - your teams must be trained in the different forms of discrimination and harassment to avoid fines, lawsuits, and bad publicity.
