NEW YORK CITY'S RESTORATION ACT IS SIGNIFICANT IN EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION CASES
Although we are all mindful of the fact that New York Courts have consistently applied Federal Employment Discrimination standards in construing the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL), we must remain mindful of Section 1 of NYC’s Local Civil Rights Restoration Act of 2005 which provides that the Restoration Act holds that the Federal Law is to have the effect of “serving as the floor below which the City’s human rights law cannot fall.”
In effect, it has been held to be “a floor below which the city human rights law cannot fall, rather than a ceiling above which the local law cannot rise.” Therefore, when we are citing legal authority with respect to the NYCHRL and are faced with citations from federal and state cases, we would be well advised to consider the different interpretation which the Restoration Act provides be given to the New York City law.
