When it’s not good to be boss: individual liability under NYSHRL

Unlike Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) provides that individual coworkers may be held liable for their own actions and inactions relative to an employee who is claiming discrimination. The measure is known as “aider and abettor” liability. The Appellate Division, Third Department recently issued a troubling split decision (3-2) reaffirming the personal liability faced by coworkers and seeming to allow the use of prior bad acts to extend the statute of limitations.

Facts

Karen Long, a single mother of Asian-American descent, was hired in August 2014 by staffing company Aerotek, Inc., to work in its Albany office, first as a recruiter and then as an account manager upon her promotion in August 2015. She was supervised by Nicholas LaRocca from January to September 2015 and then by Michael Hawkins from January 2016 until she resigned in October 2017.

In June 2018, Long sued Aerotek and another related entity known as Allegis Group, Inc., along with LaRocca, Hawkins, and Aerotek HR officer Suzanne Russo, alleging violations of the NYSHRL based on her gender, familial status, and victim of domestic violence status. She alleged the company and its supervisors created a hostile work environment so extreme that it led to her constructive discharge (that is, she had no recourse but to quit) and by committing unlawful retaliation.