2023 New York Laws › EXC - Executive › Article 15 - Human Rights Law › 292 - Definitions.

§ 292. Definitions. When used in this article:
1.  The  term "person" includes one or more individuals, partnerships,
associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in
bankruptcy, or receivers.
2. The term "employment agency" includes  any  person  undertaking  to
procure employees or opportunities to work.
3.  The  term  "labor  organization"  includes  any organization which
exists and is constituted for the purpose,  in  whole  or  in  part,  of
collective   bargaining   or   of   dealing  with  employers  concerning
grievances, terms or conditions of employment, or of other mutual aid or
protection in connection with employment.
4. The term "unlawful discriminatory  practice"  includes  only  those
practices  specified  in  sections  two  hundred ninety-six, two hundred
ninety-six-a, two hundred ninety-six-c and two hundred  ninety-six-d  of
this article.
5.  The  term "employer" shall include all employers within the state.
For the purposes of this article, (a) the state of  New  York  shall  be
considered  an  employer  of  any  employee  or  official, including any
elected official, of the  New  York  state  executive,  legislature,  or
judiciary,  including  persons  serving  in  any  judicial capacity, and
persons serving on the staff of any elected official in New York state,
(b) a city, county, town, village or other  political  subdivision  of
the state of New York shall be considered an employer of any employee or
official,  including any elected official, of such locality's executive,
legislature  or  judiciary,  including  persons  serving  in  any  local
judicial capacity, and persons serving on the staff of any local elected
official.
6. The term "employee" in this article does not include any individual
employed by his or her parents, spouse, or child.
7. The term "commissioner", unless a different meaning clearly appears
from  the context, means the state commissioner of human rights; and the
term "division" means the state division of human rights created by this
article.
8. The term "national origin" shall, for the purposes of this article,
include "ancestry."
9. The term "place of public accommodation, resort or amusement" shall
include, regardless of whether the owner or operator of such place is  a
state  or  local  government  entity  or a private individual or entity,
except as hereinafter specified, all places included in the  meaning  of
such  terms  as:  inns,  taverns,  road  houses, hotels, motels, whether
conducted  for  the  entertainment  of  transient  guests  or  for   the
accommodation   of   those   seeking  health,  recreation  or  rest,  or
restaurants, or eating houses, or any  place  where  food  is  sold  for
consumption  on  the premises; buffets, saloons, barrooms, or any store,
park or enclosure where spirituous or malt liquors are sold;  ice  cream
parlors,  confectionaries,  soda  fountains,  and  all  stores where ice
cream, ice  and  fruit  preparations  or  their  derivatives,  or  where
beverages  of  any  kind  are  retailed for consumption on the premises;
wholesale and retail stores and establishments  dealing  with  goods  or
services  of  any  kind,  dispensaries, clinics, hospitals, bath-houses,
swimming pools, laundries and all other cleaning establishments,  barber
shops,  beauty parlors, theatres, motion picture houses, airdromes, roof
gardens,  music  halls,  race  courses,  skating  rinks,  amusement  and
recreation  parks,  trailer  camps, resort camps, fairs, bowling alleys,
golf courses, gymnasiums, shooting galleries, billiard and pool parlors;
garages, all public conveyances operated on land or water or in the air,
as well as the stations and terminals thereof; travel or  tour  advisory
services,  agencies  or  bureaus;  public  halls,  public  rooms, public

elevators, and any public areas of any building or structure. Such  term
shall  not  include  kindergartens,  primary and secondary schools, high
schools, academies, colleges and universities,  extension  courses,  and
all educational institutions under the supervision of the regents of the
state  of New York; any such kindergarten, primary and secondary school,
academy, college, university, professional school, extension  course  or
other  education facility, supported in whole or in part by public funds
or  by  contributions  solicited  from  the  general  public;   or   any
institution,  club  or place of accommodation which proves that it is in
its nature distinctly private. In no event shall an institution, club or
place of accommodation be considered in its nature distinctly private if
it has more than one hundred members, provides regular meal service  and
regularly  receives  payment  for  dues, fees, use of space, facilities,
services, meals or beverages directly or indirectly from or on behalf of
a nonmember for the furtherance of trade or  business.  An  institution,
club,  or  place of accommodation which is not deemed distinctly private
pursuant to this  subdivision  may  nevertheless  apply  such  selective
criteria  as  it  chooses  in  the  use of its facilities, in evaluating
applicants for membership and in the conduct of its activities, so  long
as  such  selective  criteria do not constitute discriminatory practices
under this article or any other provision of law. For  the  purposes  of
this section, a corporation incorporated under the benevolent orders law
or described in the benevolent orders law but formed under any other law
of  this  state  or  a  religious  corporation  incorporated  under  the
education law or the religious corporations law shall be deemed to be in
its nature distinctly private.
No institution, club, organization or  place  of  accommodation  which
sponsors or conducts any amateur athletic contest or sparring exhibition
and  advertises  or bills such contest or exhibition as a New York state
championship  contest  or  uses  the  words  "New  York  state"  in  its
announcements shall be deemed a private exhibition within the meaning of
this section.
10. The term "housing accommodation" includes any building, structure,
or portion thereof which is used or occupied or is intended, arranged or
designed  to  be  used  or  occupied, as the home, residence or sleeping
place of one or more human beings. The term "housing accommodation" also
includes any accessory dwelling unit,  defined  as  any  attached  or  a
detached  residential  dwelling  unit that provides complete independent
living facilities for one or more persons which is located on a lot with
a proposed or existing primary residence  and  shall  include  permanent
provisions  for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation on the
same lot as the single-family or multi-family dwelling.
11. The term "publicly-assisted housing accommodations" shall  include
all housing accommodations within the state of New York in
(a) public housing,
(b) housing operated by housing companies under the supervision of the
commissioner of housing,
(c)  housing  constructed  after  July  first, nineteen hundred fifty,
within the state of New York
(1) which is exempt in whole or in part from taxes levied by the state
or any of its political subdivisions,
(2) which is constructed on land sold below cost by the state  or  any
of  its  political  subdivisions  or any agency thereof, pursuant to the
federal housing act of nineteen hundred forty-nine,
(3) which is constructed in whole or in part on property  acquired  or
assembled  by  the  state  or  any  of its political subdivisions or any
agency thereof through the power of condemnation or  otherwise  for  the
purpose of such construction, or
(4)  for the acquisition, construction, repair or maintenance of which
the state or any of its political subdivisions  or  any  agency  thereof
supplies funds or other financial assistance,
(d)  housing which is located in a multiple dwelling, the acquisition,
construction, rehabilitation, repair or maintenance of which  is,  after
July first, nineteen hundred fifty-five, financed in whole or in part by
a  loan, whether or not secured by a mortgage, the repayment of which is
guaranteed or insured by the federal government or any  agency  thereof,
or the state or any of its political subdivisions or any agency thereof,
provided  that  such  a  housing  accommodation  shall  be  deemed to be
publicly assisted only during the life of such loan and such guaranty or
insurance; and
(e) housing which is  offered  for  sale  by  a  person  who  owns  or
otherwise  controls  the  sale  of  ten  or  more housing accommodations
located on land that is contiguous (exclusive of public streets), if (1)
the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair or maintenance  of
such  housing  accommodations  is,  after  July  first, nineteen hundred
fifty-five, financed in whole or in part  by  a  loan,  whether  or  not
secured  by  a mortgage, the repayment of which is guaranteed or insured
by the federal government or any agency thereof, or the state or any  of
its  political  subdivisions or any agency thereof, provided that such a
housing accommodation shall be  deemed  to  be  publicly  assisted  only
during  the  life  of  such  loan  and  guaranty  or insurance, or (2) a
commitment, issued by a government agency  after  July  first,  nineteen
hundred  fifty-five,  is  outstanding  that  acquisition of such housing
accommodations may be financed in whole or in part by a loan, whether or
not secured by a mortgage, the  repayment  of  which  is  guaranteed  or
insured by the federal government or any agency thereof, or the state or
any of its political subdivisions or any agency thereof.
12.  The  term  "multiple  dwelling", as herein used, means a dwelling
which is occupied, as a rule, for permanent residence purposes and which
is either sold, rented, leased, let or hired out, to be occupied as  the
residence or home of three or more families living independently of each
other.  A "multiple dwelling" shall not be deemed to include a hospital,
convent,  monastery,  asylum  or  public  institution,  or  a  fireproof
building  used  wholly  for commercial purposes except for not more than
one janitor's apartment and not more than one penthouse occupied by  not
more  than two families. The term "family," as used herein, means either
a person occupying a dwelling and maintaining a household, with not more
than four boarders, roomers or lodgers, or two or more persons occupying
a dwelling, living together and maintaining a common household, with not
more than four boarders, roomers or lodgers. A  "boarder,"  "roomer"  or
"lodger"  residing  with  a  family  means  a  person  living within the
household who pays a consideration  for  such  residence  and  does  not
occupy  such  space  within  the  household as an incident of employment
therein. Within the context of  this  definition,  the  terms  "multiple
dwelling" and "multi-family dwelling" are interchangeable.
13.  The  term  "commercial  space"  means  any  space  in a building,
structure, or portion thereof which is used or occupied or is  intended,
arranged  or  designed to be used or occupied for the manufacture, sale,
resale,  processing,  reprocessing,   displaying,   storing,   handling,
garaging  or  distribution  of personal property; and any space which is
used or occupied, or is intended, arranged or designed  to  be  used  or
occupied  as  a  separate business or professional unit or office in any
building, structure or portion thereof.
14.  The  term  "real  estate  broker"  means  any  person,  firm   or
corporation who, for another and for a fee, commission or other valuable
consideration,   lists   for  sale,  sells,  at  auction  or  otherwise,

exchanges, buys or rents, or offers or attempts to negotiate a sale,  at
auction  or  otherwise,  exchange,  purchase  or  rental of an estate or
interest in real estate, or collects or offers or  attempts  to  collect
rent for the use of real estate, or negotiates, or offers or attempts to
negotiate,  a  loan  secured  or  to  be  secured by a mortgage or other
incumbrance upon or transfer  of  real  estate.  In  the  sale  of  lots
pursuant  to  the provisions of article nine-a of the real property law,
the  term  "real  estate  broker"  shall  also   include   any   person,
partnership,  association or corporation employed by or on behalf of the
owner or owners of lots or other parcels of real  estate,  at  a  stated
salary,  or  upon  a  commission,  or  upon  a salary and commission, or
otherwise, to sell such real estate, or any parts thereof,  in  lots  or
other  parcels,  and  who shall sell or exchange, or offer or attempt or
agree to negotiate the sale or exchange, of any such lot  or  parcel  of
real estate.
15.  The  term  "real estate salesperson" means a person employed by a
licensed real estate broker to list for sale, sell or offer for sale, at
auction or otherwise, to buy  or  offer  to  buy  or  to  negotiate  the
purchase  or  sale or exchange of real estate, or to negotiate a loan on
real estate, or to lease or rent or offer to lease, rent  or  place  for
rent  any  real estate, or who collects or offers or attempts to collect
rent for the use of real estate for or in behalf  of  such  real  estate
broker.
16.  The  term  "necessary  party"  means  any  person who has such an
interest in the subject matter of a proceeding under  this  article,  or
whose rights are so involved, that no complete and effective disposition
can be made without his or her participation in the proceeding.
17.  The  term  "parties  to  the  proceeding"  means the complainant,
respondent, necessary parties and  persons  permitted  to  intervene  as
parties  in  a  proceeding  with respect to a complaint filed under this
article.
18. The term "hearing examiner" means an employee of the division  who
shall  be  assigned for stated periods to no other work than the conduct
of hearings under this article;
19.  The  term  "discrimination"   shall   include   segregation   and
separation.
20.  The  term  "credit",  when  used  in this article means the right
conferred upon a person by a  creditor  to  incur  debt  and  defer  its
payment,  whether  or not any interest or finance charge is made for the
exercise of this right.
21. The term "disability" means (a)  a  physical,  mental  or  medical
impairment   resulting   from   anatomical,  physiological,  genetic  or
neurological conditions which prevents the exercise of a  normal  bodily
function or is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical or laboratory
diagnostic  techniques  or  (b)  a record of such an impairment or (c) a
condition regarded by others as such an impairment,  provided,  however,
that in all provisions of this article dealing with employment, the term
shall be limited to disabilities which, upon the provision of reasonable
accommodations,  do  not  prevent  the  complainant from performing in a
reasonable manner the activities  involved  in  the  job  or  occupation
sought or held.
21-a.  "Predisposing  genetic characteristic" shall mean any inherited
gene or chromosome, or alteration thereof, and determined by  a  genetic
test  or  inferred from information derived from an individual or family
member that is scientifically or medically  believed  to  predispose  an
individual  or  the  offspring  of  that  individual  to  a  disease  or
disability,  or  to  be  associated  with  a  statistically  significant

increased  risk  of  development  of  a  physical  or  mental disease or
disability.
21-b. "Genetic test" shall mean a test for determining the presence or
absence  of  an  inherited  genetic  characteristic  in  an  individual,
including tests of nucleic acids such as DNA, RNA and mitochondrial DNA,
chromosomes or proteins in order  to  identify  a  predisposing  genetic
characteristic.
21-e.  The  term  "reasonable accommodation" means actions taken which
permit an employee, prospective employee or member with a disability, or
a pregnancy-related condition, to perform in  a  reasonable  manner  the
activities involved in the job or occupation sought or held and include,
but are not limited to, provision of an accessible worksite, acquisition
or modification of equipment, support services for persons with impaired
hearing  or  vision,  job  restructuring  and  modified  work schedules;
provided, however, that such actions do not impose an undue hardship  on
the  business,  program or enterprise of the entity from which action is
requested.
21-f. The term "pregnancy-related condition" means a medical condition
related to pregnancy or childbirth  that  inhibits  the  exercise  of  a
normal bodily function or is demonstrable by medically accepted clinical
or  laboratory  diagnostic  techniques,  including  but  not  limited to
lactation; provided, however, that in all  provisions  of  this  article
dealing  with employment, the term shall be limited to conditions which,
upon the provision of reasonable  accommodations,  do  not  prevent  the
complainant  from  performing  in  a  reasonable  manner  the activities
involved in the job or occupation sought or held; and provided  further,
however, that pregnancy-related conditions shall be treated as temporary
disabilities for the purposes of this article.
22.  The  term "creditor", when used in this article, means any person
or financial institution which does business in  this  state  and  which
extends  credit  or  arranges for the extension of credit by others. The
term  creditor  includes,  but  is  not  limited  to,  banks  and  trust
companies,  private  bankers,  foreign banking corporations and national
banks, savings banks, licensed lenders, savings and  loan  associations,
credit  unions,  sales  finance  companies,  insurance  premium  finance
agencies, insurers, credit  card  issuers,  mortgage  brokers,  mortgage
companies,   mortgage   insurance  corporations,  wholesale  and  retail
merchants and factors.
23. The term "credit reporting bureau", when  used  in  this  article,
means any person doing business in this state who regularly makes credit
reports,  as  such  term  is  defined  by subdivision e of section three
hundred seventy-one of the general business law.
24. The term "regulated creditor", when used in  this  article,  means
any  creditor,  as  herein  defined,  which  has  received  its charter,
license, or organization certificate, as  the  case  may  be,  from  the
department  of  financial  services or which is otherwise subject to the
supervision of the department of financial services.
25. The term "superintendent", when used in this  article,  means  the
head  of  the  department  of  financial  services appointed pursuant to
section two hundred two of the financial services law.
26. The term "familial status", when used in this article, means:
(a) any person who is pregnant or has a child or is in the process  of
securing legal custody of any individual who has not attained the age of
eighteen years, or
(b) one or more individuals (who have not attained the age of eighteen
years) being domiciled with:
(1) a parent or another person having legal custody of such individual
or individuals, or
(2) the designee of such parent.
27.    The    term   "sexual   orientation"   means   heterosexuality,
homosexuality, bisexuality or asexuality, whether actual or perceived.
28. The term "military status" when  used  in  this  article  means  a
person's  participation  in the military service of the United States or
the military service of the state, including but  not  limited  to,  the
armed  forces  of  the  United  States, the army national guard, the air
national guard, the New York naval militia, the New York guard, and such
additional forces as may be created by the federal or  state  government
as authorized by law.
29.  The term "reserve armed forces", when used in this article, means
service other than permanent, full-time service in the  military  forces
of  the United States including but not limited to service in the United
States Army Reserve, the United States Naval Reserve, the United  States
Marine Corps Reserve, the United States Air Force Reserve, or the United
States Coast Guard Reserve.
30.  The  term  "organized  militia  of  the state", when used in this
article, means service other than permanent, full-time  service  in  the
military  forces  of  the state of New York including but not limited to
the New York army national guard, the New York air national  guard,  the
New York naval militia and the New York guard.
34. The term "victim of domestic violence" shall have the same meaning
as  is ascribed to such term by section four hundred fifty-nine-a of the
social services law.
35. The term "gender identity or expression" means a  person's  actual
or  perceived gender-related identity, appearance, behavior, expression,
or other gender-related characteristic regardless of the sex assigned to
that person at birth, including, but not limited to, the status of being
transgender.
36. The term "lawful source of  income"  shall  include,  but  not  be
limited  to,  child  support,  alimony,  foster  care  subsidies, income
derived from social security, or any form of federal,  state,  or  local
public  assistance  or housing assistance including, but not limited to,
section 8 vouchers, or any other form of housing assistance  payment  or
credit  whether  or  not  such  income  or  credit is paid or attributed
directly to a landlord, and  any  other  forms  of  lawful  income.  The
provisions  of  this  subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit the
use of criteria or qualifications of eligibility for the  sale,  rental,
leasing  or  occupancy of publicly-assisted housing accommodations where
such criteria or qualifications are required to comply with  federal  or
state law, or are necessary to obtain the benefits of a federal or state
program.   A   publicly   assisted  housing  accommodation  may  include
eligibility criteria  in  statements,  advertisements,  publications  or
applications,  and may make inquiry or request information to the extent
necessary to determine eligibility.
37. The term "race" shall, for the purposes of  this  article  include
traits  historically associated with race, including but not limited to,
hair texture and protective hairstyles.
38. The term  "private  employer"  as  used  in  section  two  hundred
ninety-seven   of  this  article  shall  include  any  person,  company,
corporation, labor organization or association. It shall not include the
state  or  any  local  subdivision  thereof,  or  any  state  or   local
department, agency, board or commission.
39. The term "protective hairstyles" shall include, but not be limited
to, such hairstyles as braids, locks, and twists.
40. The term "educational institution" shall mean:
(a) any education corporation or association which holds itself out to
the  public to be non-sectarian and exempt from taxation pursuant to the
provisions of article four of the real property tax law; or
(b)  any  for-profit  entity  that  operates  a  college,  university,
licensed private career school or certified English as a second language
school which holds itself out to the  public  to  be  non-sectarian  and
which  is not exempt from taxation pursuant to the provisions of article
four of the real property tax law; or
(c) any  public  school,  including  any  school  district,  board  of
cooperative educational services, public college or public university.
41. The term "citizenship or immigration status" means the citizenship
of  any  person  or  the  immigration  status of any person who is not a
citizen of the United States. Nothing in  this  article  shall  preclude
verification of citizenship or immigration status where required by law,
nor  shall  an  adverse  action  based on verification of citizenship or
immigration status be prohibited where such adverse action  is  required
by law.