New York City Employment Discrimination Laws Among Most Progessive in United States
The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), the proposed Federal legislation which passed the U.S. House of Representatives on November 7, 2007, would prohibit discrimination against employees on the basis of their sexual orientation. The bill signifies progress for gays and lesbians in the workforce that was years in the making.
However, the bill, H.R. 3685, does not offer protection to transgender employees. Language in an older version of the bill that offered protections based on gender identity was removed by Democratic lawmakers in order to make sure the bill would be passed. As a result, some activists and legislators have taken the position that the effect of forsaking the “T” of the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) group in the passage of the ENDA bill is an unacceptable compromise that only divides the LGBT community by leaving one of its groups behind. Indeed, five of New York’s Representatives in the House did not support the bill's passage because of its failure to include the language addressing protections based on gender identity.
In comparison, the New York City Human Rights Law is more progressive than Federal laws in the manner in which it protects employees. For the past several years, New York City has offered protections to transgender employees since the New York City Council amended the city's Human Rights Law in 2002. As such, New York City historically has had the distinction of having one of the nation’s most comprehensive set of human rights laws to protect employees against employment discrimination. The New York City Human Rights Law, in addition to offering protection for transgender employees, is unlike Federal laws in that it enables victims of employment discrimination to seek compensatory and punitive damages without being subject to a cap.
