Provides that the court shall not reduce jury awards as excessive in employment discrimination actions unless the court finds that the proponent has proven by clear and convincing evidence that the verdict compels the conclusion that the jury was influenced by partiality, prejudice, mistake or corruption.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8282
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
September 17, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEAWRIGHT -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules and the executive law,
in relation to jury awards for unlawful discriminatory practices
relating to employment
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision (a) of rule 4404 of the civil practice law and
2 rules, such rule as renumbered by chapter 315 of the laws of 1962, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (a) Motion after trial where jury required. After a trial of a cause
5 of action or issue triable of right by a jury, upon the motion of any
6 party or on its own initiative, the court may set aside a verdict or any
7 judgment entered thereon and direct that judgment be entered in favor of
8 a party entitled to judgment as a matter of law or it may order a new
9 trial of a cause of action or separable issue where the verdict is
10 contrary to the weight of the evidence, in the interest of justice or
11 where the jury cannot agree after being kept together for as long as is
12 deemed reasonable by the court. No court shall order a new trial on the
13 ground that the jury award was excessive, or otherwise act to reduce the
14 jury's award in a case involving an unlawful discriminatory practice
15 under section two hundred ninety-six of the executive law relating to
16 employment, including a claim by a non-employee under section two
17 hundred ninety-six-d of the executive law, without fully satisfying the
18 pertinent standards set forth in paragraph two of subdivision (c) of
19 section fifty-five hundred one of this chapter and paragraph (b) of
20 subdivision nine of section two hundred ninety-seven of the executive
21 law.
22 § 2. Subdivision (c) of section 5501 of the civil practice law and
23 rules, as amended by chapter 474 of the laws of 1997, is amended to read
24 as follows:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10273-03-1
A. 8282 2
1 (c) Appellate division. 1. The appellate division shall review ques-
2 tions of law and questions of fact on an appeal from a judgment or order
3 of a court of original instance and on an appeal from an order of the
4 supreme court, a county court or an appellate term determining an
5 appeal. The notice of appeal from an order directing summary judgment,
6 or directing judgment on a motion addressed to the pleadings, shall be
7 deemed to specify a judgment upon said order entered after service of
8 the notice of appeal and before entry of the order of the appellate
9 court upon such appeal, without however affecting the taxation of costs
10 upon the appeal. In reviewing a money judgment in an action in which an
11 itemized verdict is required by rule forty-one hundred eleven of this
12 chapter in which it is contended that the award is excessive or inade-
13 quate and that a new trial should have been granted unless a stipulation
14 is entered to a different award, the appellate division shall determine
15 that an award is excessive or inadequate if it deviates materially from
16 what would be reasonable compensation.
17 2. Where an award is made by a jury for any damages in a case involv-
18 ing an unlawful discriminatory practice under section two hundred nine-
19 ty-six of the executive law relating to employment, including a claim by
20 a non-employee under section two hundred ninety-six-d of the executive
21 law, the jury's verdict is presumed to be correct and entitled to
22 substantial deference. Any such award shall not be disturbed unless the
23 court finds that the proponent has proven by clear and convincing
24 evidence that the verdict compels the conclusion that the jury was
25 influenced by partiality, prejudice, mistake or corruption, and remitti-
26 tur or additur is necessary to avoid a complete miscarriage of justice.
27 In making such determination, the court shall not substitute its judg-
28 ment for the jury's, shall give primary weight to the remedial purpose
29 of the law, and shall not limit any award by inclusion in or exclusion
30 from any category of case or by using any characterizations of other
31 damage awards. In reviewing any such verdict in any case filed after the
32 effective date of this paragraph, the court shall not be bound by any
33 precedent which utilized the concept of material deviation from what
34 would be reasonable compensation, or a judge's personal knowledge or
35 experiences from prior cases. The evidence shall be reviewed in the
36 light most favorable to sustaining the verdict. A court should exercise
37 its authority to order a remittitur or additur only in the most excep-
38 tional of circumstances.
39 § 3. Subdivision 9 of section 297 of the executive law, as separately
40 amended by chapter 160 of the laws of 2019 and chapter 236 of the laws
41 of 2020, is amended to read as follows:
42 9. (a) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by an unlawful discrimina-
43 tory practice shall have a cause of action in any court of appropriate
44 jurisdiction for damages, including, in cases of employment discrimi-
45 nation related to private employers and housing discrimination only,
46 punitive damages, and such other remedies as may be appropriate, includ-
47 ing any civil fines and penalties provided in subdivision four of this
48 section, unless such person had filed a complaint hereunder or with any
49 local commission on human rights, or with the superintendent pursuant to
50 the provisions of section two hundred ninety-six-a of this [chapter]
51 article, provided that, where the division has dismissed such complaint
52 on the grounds of administrative convenience, on the grounds of untime-
53 liness, or on the grounds that the election of remedies is annulled,
54 such person shall maintain all rights to bring suit as if no complaint
55 had been filed with the division. At any time prior to a hearing before
56 a hearing examiner, a person who has a complaint pending at the division
A. 8282 3
1 may request that the division dismiss the complaint and annul his or her
2 election of remedies so that the human rights law claim may be pursued
3 in court, and the division may, upon such request, dismiss the complaint
4 on the grounds that such person's election of an administrative remedy
5 is annulled. Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of section two hundred four
6 of the civil practice law and rules, if a complaint is so annulled by
7 the division, upon the request of the party bringing such complaint
8 before the division, such party's rights to bring such cause of action
9 before a court of appropriate jurisdiction shall be limited by the stat-
10 ute of limitations in effect in such court at the time the complaint was
11 initially filed with the division. Any party to a housing discrimination
12 complaint shall have the right within twenty days following a determi-
13 nation of probable cause pursuant to subdivision two of this section to
14 elect to have an action commenced in a civil court, and an attorney
15 representing the division of human rights will be appointed to present
16 the complaint in court, or, with the consent of the division, the case
17 may be presented by complainant's attorney. A complaint filed by the
18 equal employment opportunity commission to comply with the requirements
19 of 42 USC 2000e-5(c) and 42 USC 12117(a) and 29 USC 633(b) shall not
20 constitute the filing of a complaint within the meaning of this subdivi-
21 sion. No person who has initiated any action in a court of competent
22 jurisdiction or who has an action pending before any administrative
23 agency under any other law of the state based upon an act which would be
24 an unlawful discriminatory practice under this article, may file a
25 complaint with respect to the same grievance under this section or under
26 section two hundred ninety-six-a of this article. In cases of housing
27 discrimination only, a person whose complaint has been dismissed by the
28 division after investigation for lack of jurisdiction or lack of proba-
29 ble cause may file the same cause of action in a court of appropriate
30 jurisdiction pursuant to this section, unless judicial review of such
31 dismissal has been sought pursuant to section two hundred ninety-eight
32 of this article.
33 (b) A verdict involving an unlawful discriminatory practice under
34 section two hundred ninety-six of this article relating to employment,
35 including a claim by a non-employee under section two hundred ninety-
36 six-d of this article, shall not be subject to remittitur or additur, or
37 granting of a motion for new trial on the ground that the verdict was
38 excessive or inadequate, or otherwise reduced or increased, unless the
39 court finds that the party seeking remittitur or additur has made a
40 clear and convincing showing that compels the conclusion that the jury
41 was influenced by partiality, prejudice, mistake or corruption and that
42 remittitur or additur is necessary to avoid a complete miscarriage of
43 justice. In making such determination, a jury verdict shall be presumed
44 to be correct and entitled to substantial deference. The court shall not
45 substitute its judgment for the jury's, shall give primary weight to the
46 remedial purpose of the law, and shall not limit any award by inclusion
47 in or exclusion from any category of case or any characterizations of
48 other damage awards. In reviewing any verdict in any case filed after
49 the effective date of this paragraph, the court shall not be bound by
50 any precedent which utilized the concept of material deviation from what
51 would be reasonable compensation. A court should exercise its authority
52 to order a remittitur or additur only in the most exceptional of circum-
53 stances. This provision is substantive in nature, as opposed to proce-
54 dural, and shall be so applied in any employment discrimination action
55 under this article, regardless of forum.
56 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
