On 3/13/2023, S3255 passed the NYS Senate and was delivered to the Assembly.
This Anti-Discrimination Bill is so important to school-children and governmental employees facing discrimination in the State of New York.
Currently, when suing many governmental defendants for discrimination, such as school districts, victims only have one year to bring their claims (except for sexual harassment claims) before the New York State Division of Human Rights. This bill would make the limitations period three years.
The bill is particularly important to bridge the gap between suing the government and non-governmental actors. When suing a non-government actor for discrimination, a victim can bring a court case, rather than a claim before the New York State Division of Human Rights, under the New York State Human Rights Law, within three years of the wrongful acts of discrimination.
However, discrimination court cases against the government are often subject to a notice of claim statute where the statute of limitations is effectively limited to ninety days.
As a result, many victims of governmental discrimination are out of luck when brining claims because they did not act quickly enough.
Often times, a claim against a school district for permitting harassment in school is an ongoing case where acts over years demonstrate the discrimination, but recent events only tell an incomplete story.
This law will bring fairness to the state and protect victims of discrimination.
We strongly support the passage of this Bill and hope that the Assembly passes it swiftly.
