On November 8, 2019, an amendment to New York State’s Labor Law (NYLL)–Section 203-E–took effect, prohibiting all employers within New York State from discriminating or retaliating against employees or their dependents based on their reproductive health decision-making. Specifically, under New York State’s Labor Law Section 203-E, an employer may not access employee personal information regarding the employee’s or the employee’s dependent’s reproductive health decision making, including but not limited to, the decision to use or access a particular drug, device or medical service without the employee’s prior informed affirmative written consent.
Effective January 7, 2020, pursuant to NYLL Section 203-E, employers of all sizes within New York State must notify employees of their rights under the law and remedies. For those employers with an employee handbook, the notice of rights and remedies must be contained in that handbook. The NYS Department of Labor has not issued any guidance yet, including whether independent contractors are encompassed by this law as “employees” and whether they must receive written notice of rights as well.
Employees may sue in court for violation of the law. Violation of the law can result in damages, including, but not limited to, back pay, benefits and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs for a prevailing plaintiff, injunctive relief against an employer, reinstatement; and/or 100% liquidated damages of the award for damages unless an employer proves a good faith basis to believe that its actions were in compliance with the law. The law also contains civil penalties against employers that retaliate against an employee for complaining of a violation of this law. The New York State Labor Law amendment does not exempt religious or faith-based organizations (see below for further information). It also does not define “employee” and so it is unclear whether the mandated employee notice must also be provided to an entity’s independent contractors who are now covered by NYSHRL antidiscrimination provisions.
The justification for the law is that the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) recently required that health insurance plans cover FDA-approved birth control methods without out-of-pocket costs to employees. Some for-profit employers have attempted to prevent employees from accessing health insurance plan coverage of FDA-approved birth control without out-of-pocket costs on the grounds that this health insurance benefit conflicts with an employer’s personal beliefs. As a result, over 100 federal lawsuits have been filed by employers to deny employees this benefit, including employers operating in New York State. New York State’s legislature seeks to ensure that employees’ decisions about pregnancy, contraception, and reproductive health are protected under state law from employment discrimination.
This amendment to New York State’s Labor Law prevents an employer from discriminating against employees based on reproductive health decisions, regardless of how the employer became aware of those decisions. Despite medical confidentiality protections under The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), an employer does receive health insurance utilization summaries, which are distributed to each employer on a regular basis. In these reports, in some cases, an individual’s identity may be deduced by an employer based on the nature of the service and composition of the insured class reported in the summaries, and the State does not want employers using information about an employee’s reproductive health decision as a basis for discriminating against an employee or taking a negative employment action against them.
The State Labor Law amendment follows a recent amendment to New York City’s own Human Rights Law, which prohibits employers with four or more employees in New York City, labor organizations or employment agencies, from discriminating against or harassing job applicants, employees, interns, and independent contractors without employees, based on their sexual and reproductive health decisions. [1]
Note to religious/faith-based nonprofit organizations: The State Labor Law and New York City Human Rights Law amendments are currently being challenged in federal court in New York by Evergreen Association, Inc., a nonprofit that operates pregnancy centers, and its founder and President, Chris Slattery, on the grounds that the law violates their constitutional rights to freedom of speech, freedom of association and due process, and that the term “reproductive health decision-making” is undefined, making that law unconstitutionally vague. Stay tuned for developments in this litigation as there is no exemption for religious or faith-based organizations under the New York State Labor Law. While New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws do contain religious organization exemptions from those laws (though NYCHRL does not define a “religious organization”), those exemptions are nonetheless limited in their scope.[2] Religious organizations, in particular, should consider the impact of the amendment to New York State’s Labor Law and consult with their legal counsel about their rights and obligations.
What Should an Employer Do Now? Provide a written notice of employee rights and remedies as required and review and update all EEO and other policies prohibiting discrimination and employment-related hiring materials.
[1] New York City’s Human Rights Law defines “sexual and reproductive health decision” as “any decision by an individual to receive services, which are arranged for or offered or provided to individuals relating to sexual and reproductive health, including the reproductive system and its functions.” Services include, but are not limited to:
- Fertility-related medical procedures;
- Sexually transmitted disease prevention, testing, and treatment; and
- Family planning services and counseling, such as birth control drugs and supplies, emergency contraception, sterilization procedures, pregnancy testing, and abortion.
[2] NYC’s Human Rights Law does not prohibit religious organizations from limiting employment or giving preference to persons of the same religion or denomination or from making such selection as is calculated by such organization to promote the religious principles for which it is established or maintained.
