New York State Law
Civil Rights Law
Consolidated Laws of New York's CVR code
Article 4 - NY Civil Rights Law
EQUAL RIGHTS IN PLACES OF PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION AND AMUSEMENT
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| 40 | Equal rights in places of public accommodation, resort or amusement. |
| 40-A | Inquiry concerning religion or religious affiliations of person seeking employment or official position in public schools prohibited. |
| 40-B | Wrongful refusal of admission to and ejection from places of public entertainment and amusement. |
| 40-C | Discrimination. |
| 40-D | Penalty for violation. |
| 40-E | Innkeepers and carriers refusing to receive guests and passengers. |
| 40-F | Discrimination against person or class in price for admission. |
| 40-G | Discrimination against United States uniform. |
| 41 | Penalty for violation. |
| 42 | Discrimination by utility companies. |
| 43 | Discrimination by labor organizations prohibited. |
| 44 | Discrimination by industries involved in defense contracts. |
| 44-A | Protecting civil and public rights. |
| 45 | Powers of administration vested in industrial commissioner. |
S 40. Equal rights in places of public accommodation, resort or amusement. All persons within the jurisdiction of this state shall be entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any places of public accommodations, resort or amusement, subject only to the conditions and limitations established by law and applicable alike to all persons. No person, being the owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee of any such place shall directly or indirectly refuse, withhold from or deny to any person any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges thereof, or directly or indirectly publish, circulate, issue, display, post or mail any written or printed communication, notice or advertisement, to the effect that any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any such place shall be refused, withheld from or denied to any person on account of race, creed, color or national origin, or that the patronage or custom thereat, of any person belonging to or purporting to be of any particular race, creed, color or national original is unwelcome, objectionable or not acceptable, desired or solicited. The production of any such written or printed communication, notice or advertisement, purporting to relate to any such place and to be made by any person being the owner, lessee, proprietor, superintendent or manager thereof, shall be presumptive evidence in any civil or criminal action that the same was authorized by such person. A place of public accommodation, resort or amusement within the meaning of this article, shall be deemed to include inns, taverns, road houses, hotels, 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, confectioneries, 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; retail stores and establishments, dispensaries, clinics, hospitals, bath-houses, barber-shops, beauty parlors, theatres, motion picture houses, airdromes, roof gardens, music halls, race courses, skating rinks, amusement and recreation parks, fairs, bowling alleys, golf courses, gymnasiums, shooting galleries, billiard and pool parlors, public libraries, 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; and any such public library, kindergarten, primary and secondary school, academy, college, university, professional school, extension course, or other educational facility, supported in whole or in part by public funds or by contributions solicited from the general public; garages, all public conveyances, operated on land or water, as well as the stations and terminals thereof; public halls and public elevators of buildings and structures occupied by two or more tenants, or by the owner and one or more tenants. With regard to institutions for the care of neglected and/or delinquent children supported directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, by public funds, no accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of such institutions shall be refused, withheld from or denied to any person on account of race or color. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to modify or supersede any of the provisions of the children's court act, the social welfare law or the domestic relations court act of New York city in regard to religion of custodial persons or agencies or to include any institution, club, or place of accommodation which is in its nature distinctly private, or to prohibit the mailing of a private communication in writing sent in response to a specific written inquiry. 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. S 40-a. Inquiry concerning religion or religious affiliations of person seeking employment or official position in public schools prohibited. No person, agency, bureau, corporation or association employed or maintained to obtain or aid in obtaining positions for teachers, principals, superintendents, clerks or other employees in the public schools of the state of New York, and no individual or individuals conducting or employed by or interested directly or indirectly in such an agency, bureau, corporation or association, and no board of education, trustee of a school district, superintendent, principal or teacher of a public school or other official or employee of a board of education, shall directly or indirectly ask, indicate or transmit orally or in writing the religion or religious affiliation of any person seeking employment or official position in the public schools of the state of New York. S 40-b. Wrongful refusal of admission to and ejection from places of public entertainment and amusement. No person, agency, bureau, corporation or association, being the owner, lessee, proprietor, manager, superintendent, agent or employee of any place of public entertainment and amusement as hereinafter defined shall refuse to admit to any public performance held at such place any person over the age of twenty-one years who presents a ticket of admission to the performance a reasonable time before the commencement thereof, or shall eject or demand the departure of any such person from such place during the course of the performance, whether or not accompanied by an offer to refund the purchase price or value of the ticket of admission presented by such person; but nothing in this section contained shall be construed to prevent the refusal of admission to or the ejection of any person whose conduct or speech thereat or therein is abusive or offensive or of any person engaged in any activity which may tend to a breach of the peace. The places of public entertainment and amusement within the meaning of this section shall be legitimate theatres, burlesque theatres, music halls, opera houses, concert halls and circuses. S 40-c. Discrimination. 1. All persons within the jurisdiction of this state shall be entitled to the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof. 2. No person shall, because of race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation or disability, as such term is defined in section two hundred ninety-two of the executive law, be subjected to any discrimination in his or her civil rights, or to any harassment, as defined in section 240.25 of the penal law, in the exercise thereof, by any other person or by any firm, corporation or institution, or by the state or any agency or subdivision of the state. S 40-d. Penalty for violation. Any person who shall violate any of the provisions of the foregoing section, or subdivision three of section 240.30 or section 240.31 of the penal law, or who shall aid or incite the violation of any of said provisions shall for each and every violation thereof be liable to a penalty of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, to be recovered by the person aggrieved thereby in any court of competent jurisdiction in the county in which the defendant shall reside. In addition, any person who shall violate any of the provisions of the foregoing section shall be deemed guilty of a class A misdemeanor. At or before the commencement of any action under this section, notice thereof shall be served upon the attorney general. S 40-e. Innkeepers and carriers refusing to receive guests and passengers. A person, who, either on his own account or as agent or officer of a corporation, carries on business as innkeeper, or as common carrier of passengers, and refuses, without just cause or excuse, to receive and entertain any guest, or to receive and carry any passenger, is guilty of a misdemeanor. S 40-f. Discrimination against person or class in price for admission. If a person who owns, occupies, manages or controls a building, park, inclosure or other place, opens the same to the public generally at stated periods or otherwise, he shall not discriminate against any person or class of persons in the price charged for admission thereto. A person violating the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor. S 40-G. Discrimination against United States uniform. A person who excludes from the equal enjoyment of any accommodation, facility or privilege furnished by innkeepers or common carriers, amusement or resort, any person lawfully wearing the uniform of the army, navy, marine corps or revenue cutter service of the United States, because of that uniform, is guilty of a misdemeanor. S 41. Penalty for violation. Any person who or any agency, bureau, corporation or association which shall violate any of the provisions of sections forty, forty-a, forty-b or forty-two or who or which shall aid or incite the violation of any of said provisions and any officer or member of a labor organization, as defined by section forty-three of this chapter, or any person representing any organization or acting in its behalf who shall violate any of the provisions of section forty-three of this chapter or who shall aid or incite the violation of any of the provisions of such section shall for each and every violation thereof be liable to a penalty of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, to be recovered by the person aggrieved thereby or by any resident of this state, to whom such person shall assign his cause of action, in any court of competent jurisdiction in the county in which the plaintiff or the defendant shall reside; and such person and the manager or owner of or each officer of such agency, bureau, corporation or association, and such officer or member of a labor organization or person acting in his behalf, as the case may be shall, also, for every such offense be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or shall be imprisoned not less than thirty days nor more than ninety days, or both such fine and imprisonment. At or before the commencement of any action under this section, notice thereof shall be served upon the attorney general. S 42. Discrimination by utility companies. It shall be unlawful for any public utility company, as defined in the public service law, to refuse to employ any person in any capacity in the operation or maintenance of a public service on account of the race, creed, color or national origin of such person. S 43. Discrimination by labor organizations prohibited. As used in this section, the term "labor organization" means 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. No labor organization shall hereafter, directly or indirectly, by ritualistic practice, constitutional or by-law prescription, by tacit agreement among its members, or otherwise, deny a person or persons membership in its organization by reason of his race, creed, color or national origin, or by regulations, practice or otherwise, deny to any of its members, by reason of race, creed, color or national origin, equal treatment with all other members in any designation of members to any employer for employment, promotion or dismissal by such employer. S 44. Discrimination by industries involved in defense contracts. It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation engaged to any extent whatsoever in the production, manufacture or distribution of military or naval material, equipment or supplies for the state of New York or for the federal government to refuse to employ any person in any capacity on account of the race, color, creed or national origin of such person. S 44-A. Protecting civil and public rights. A person who: 1. Excludes a citizen of this state, by reason of race, color, creed, national origin or previous condition of servitude, from any public employment or employment in any capacity in industries engaged in defense contracts or from the equal enjoyment of any accommodation, facility or privilege furnished by innkeepers or common carriers, or by owners, managers or lessees of theatres or other places of amusement, or by teachers and officers of common schools and public institutions of learning; or, 2. Excludes a citizen of this state by reason of race, color, national origin or previous condition of servitude from the equal enjoyment of any accommodation, facility or privilege furnished by a cemetery association or associations; or, 3. Denies or aids or incites another to deny to any other person because of race, creed, color or national origin public employment or employment in any capacity in industries engaged in war contracts or the full enjoyment of any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges of any hotel, inn, tavern, restaurant, public conveyance on land or water, theatre or other place of public resort or amusement; Is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by fine of not less than fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. S 45. Powers of administration vested in industrial commissioner. The industrial commissioner may enforce the provisions of sections forty-two, forty-three and forty-four of this chapter. For this purpose he may use the powers of administration, investigation, inquiry, subpoena, and hearing vested in him by the labor law; he may require submission at regular intervals or otherwise of information, records and reports pertinent to discriminatory practices in industries. Top of Page
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