New York Court Decides Individual Owners are Not Employers Under New York City Human Rights Law

April 06, 2021-In a victory for business owners, the State of New York Court of Appeals decided that individual owners are not “employers” so are exempt from the New York City Human Rights Law’s (NYCHRL) vicarious liability provisions. An employee of Bloomberg L.P. brought claims of illegal discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual abuse against her boss, who she claimed did the harassment, the company, and Michael Bloomberg as an individual owner and officer of the company.

The Court noted “the term ‘employer’ is undefined” when discussing NYCHRL vicarious liability provisions. In the end, the Court held that “where a plaintiff’s employer is a business entity, the shareholders, agents, limited partners, and employees of that entity are not employers within the meaning of the City HRL”. Rather, the liability is only for individual conduct. Even though the City Human Rights Law is expansive, the Court will only let plaintiffs go so far.

Find the full decision here

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