Human Rights Law Protections Extended to Domestic Violence Victims

Effective July 7, 2009, the New York State Human Rights Law provides protection from employment discrimination to victims of domestic violence. A domestic violence victim is an individual who is a victim of an act which would constitute a “family offense” under Section 812(1) of New York’s Family Court Act. Family offenses include disorderly conduct, harassment, stalking, criminal mischief, menacing, reckless endangerment, assault or attempted assault between spouses or former spouses, or between parent and child or between members of the same family or household, including persons who are not related, but who are or have been in an intimate relationship without regard to whether such persons have lived together at any time. 

Note: This article was published in the September 2009 issue of the New Jersey eAuthority.