Image Credit: NYC Human Rights Commission.
New local law bans employers from asking applicants about past salaries. On October 31, 2017, the new city-wide Salary History Law took effect. Public Advocate Letitia James, introduced the legislation in August 2017 in response to a report that women in the City earned $5.8 billion less than men in annual wages. Women in City government suffered a wage gap two-to-three times larger than women working in the private sector, with women of color hurt more than women from other backgrounds. (read more…)
Lobby at 47-55 39th Place in Sunnyside, Queens. Image credit: Office of Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer
City will investigate property manager who decorated condo lobby with Nazi and other fascist regalia. On August 29, 2017, the City’s Commission on Human Rights announced that it had launched an investigation into the claims of tenant harassment at 47-55 39th Place in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens. The investigation stems from the display of Nazi and Confederate imagery, swastikas and other hate symbols in the lobby. Tenants, condo owners and Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer have all alleged tenant harassment by the manager, Neal Milano, in connection to the offensive displays in the common area lobby. The lobby is also plastered with hyper-patriotic posters supporting Trump and the NRA. Other posters include, but are not limited to, Lincoln, Mount Rushmore, and Uncle Sam. (read more…)
Image Credit: NYC Commission on Human Rights
Mother and disabled daughter sought compensation for emotional distress for landlord’s failure to provide more appropriate bathtub. Bianca Torres, a disabled 17-year-old, was denied a lower, smaller bathtub by the landlord of the three story, rent-controlled building on Stephen Street in Queens where she lived with her mother, Lynn Blue. Bianca Torres suffered from autism and seizure disorders, and she had no cartilage in her left knee. Torres needed assistance with every aspect of her daily routine, including bathing, and a wheelchair to travel outside the apartment.
On October 30, 2014, the Commission on Human Rights filed a complaint charging that Milena Jovic, the landlord, had violated the City’s Human Rights Law by failing for two years to replace the existing porcelain tub on legs with a lower, smaller bathtub. The process of bathing sometimes caused injuries to both mother and daughter because of the small size of the bathroom. Jovic responded that the bathtub was in compliance with the building code, but that it could be replaced if Blue agreed to a rent increase. This was Blue’s second complaint involving Jovic—the first, in 2006, the Commission persuaded Jovic to allow Blue to store a wheelchair on the first floor instead of carrying it up three stories to the apartment for storage.
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