Among a slew of pending employment-related bills awaiting Governor Hochul’s consideration is one that, if enacted, would bar settlements of harassment and/or discrimination claims from:
- including any terms or conditions requiring a plaintiff to pay liquidated damages for violating a non-disclosure agreement;
- requiring the complainant to forfeit part or all of the consideration for violating the non-disclosure provisions; or
- requiring the complainant to sign an affirmative statement, assertion, or disclaimer stating that they were not subject to discrimination or retaliation.
Additionally, an employer’s failure to comply would invalidate the release of claims in the agreement!
If signed by the Governor, the bill would go into effect immediately, so we will closely monitor this bill’s progress and if passed into law, employers must be prepared to immediately update template agreements.