STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
174
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. COMRIE, ADDABBO, CLEARE, FERNANDEZ, JACKSON, MATT-
ERA, MAYER, MURRAY, PALUMBO, PARKER, RHOADS, TEDISCO, WEBER -- read
twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the
Committee on Transportation
AN ACT concerning protections for employees of the Metro-North Commuter
Railroad company and the Long Island Rail Road company, wholly owned
corporations of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority operating as
common carriers engaged in interstate commerce
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
2 the "commuter rail employee rights protection act".
3 § 2. The Metro-North Commuter Railroad company and the Long Island
4 Rail Road company and any of their successors and assigns who operate,
5 manage, or develop the railroad system within the counties of Suffolk,
6 Nassau, Queens, Kings, New York, Bronx, Westchester, Rockland, Orange,
7 Ulster, Putnam, Dutchess, Sullivan, Greene, Columbia, Albany, and Rens-
8 selaer waive any defense of jurisdictional or substantive sovereign
9 immunity arising out of any state or federal claim or cause of action
10 against it or its successors and assigns. In addition, the Metro-North
11 Commuter Railroad company and the Long Island Rail Road company and any
12 of their successors and assigns who operate, manage, or develop any
13 municipally owned and operated commuter railroad operating within the
14 general system of railroading within the state of New York shall be
15 subject to the provisions of all federal railroad laws, including the
16 "Railway Labor Act" (45 U.S.C. s.151 et seq.), the "Federal Employers
17 Liability Act" (45 U.S.C. s.51 et seq.), the "Railroad Retirement Act of
18 1937" (45 U.S.C. s. 231 et seq.), the "Railroad Retirement Tax Act" (26
19 U.S.C. s. 3201 et seq.), the Federal Railroad Safety Laws (49 U.S.C.
20 s.20101 et seq.), whistleblower laws, discrimination laws, and the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00718-01-5
S. 174 2
1 "Interstate Commerce Act" (49 U.S.C. s.10501 et seq). Such waiver shall
2 be retroactive to any lawsuit currently pending in any state or federal
3 court in the state of New York.
4 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
