A seemingly endless stream of accusations of sexual harassment over the last several months fueled state Sen. Catharine Young’s recent decision to propose strengthening the state’s sexual harassment laws.
Young, R-Olean, is a cosponsor of the Sexual Harassment Accountability and Protection Act with Sen. Elaine Phillips, R-7th District. The bill would enact sweeping new protections for victims including banning secret settlements, establishing a statutory definition of sexual harassment and expanding legal definitions to protect independent contractors.
The bill would also exclude sexual harassment from the issues requiring mandatory arbitration as a condition of employment.
Young said she already has offers from five Assembly Democrats to introduce a companion bill in the Assembly soon after the State Legislature convenes Jan. 3, 2018.
“Hopefully, we can get this issue moving forward,” Young said, adding she’ll also be seeking Democratic co-sponsors in the Senate.
Young said her “hat is off” to the group of women and men who have spoken up about sexual harassment and assault allegations throughout 2017. Collectively, they were dubbed “The Silence Breakers” in Time Magazine’s Person of the Year issue. The wave of statements made by people within this group has let to the displacement of several executives, media creators, actors, journalists and politicians from their positions, famously including movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
Allegations have also led to to calls for resignations of five men in Congress within the last month, including Sen. Al Franken and Reps. John Conyers, Ruben Kihuen, Trent Franks and Blake Farenthold. Even President Donald Trump continues to be dogged by reports of sexual impropriety from more than a dozen women prior to the 2016 campaign. Last week, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called for Trump to resign over sexual misconduct allegations.
“It’s a widespread problem that needs to be addressed,” Young said. “This goes on in every segment of society. Low-wage workers seem to be targeted most and they have the least ability to do something about it because they can’t afford to lose their jobs.”
Young is chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee and a member of the Senate Republican leadership. She represents Cattaraugus, Allegany and Chautauqua counties and part of Livingston County.
“I started looking at this issue and was amazed that we don’t have a sexual harassment definition in New York state law,” she said. Instead, New York uses a federal definition. “I felt strongly it should be put into state statute.”
Young said if it had been in effect earlier this year, it would have barred the type of secret settlement former Western New York Economic Development Corp. director Sam Hoyt made with a former girlfriend who he had helped get a state job to keep quiet about their affair. Hoyt resigned in October.
“I believe there are more and more stories” yet to come, she said. “It seems to be a more prevalent problem. Our response as public servants is to ensure every New Yorker is protected.”
She said the intent of her bill is “to implement strong (sexual harassment) policies in New York state and “continue to draw public awareness to this issue.”
Young said the senate itself has a “strong” zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment, and she did not cite any specific instances of sexual harassment in her experiences. But she said, “Everyone feels uncomfortable at some point in their life. It’s not about me, but protecting the victims of sexual harassment.”
(Contact reporter Rick Miller at rmiller@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @RMillerOTH)
