As if the current legal environment for employers and their insurance carriers was not sufficiently challenging, state legislatures are considering bills, inter alia, to expand the definition of a hostile work environment, to expand coverage of anti-discrimination and harassment laws to independent contractors, to increase penalties for harassment and to require that employers pay for the cost of post-harassment therapy.  Expansion of legal rights and legal remedies will drive the seemingly ceaseless growth of claims, administrative proceedings, and lawsuits.

The testimony of the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Labor (one of the agencies charged with establishing guidelines on sexual harassment training in New York) summarizing that agency’s current thinking can be read by clicking here.