A series of new laws for women’s equality took effect today, including legislation for pay equity and more protections for victims of domestic violence.

“New York continues to lead the nation in promoting fairness, equality and justice for all,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “More than a century ago, our state was the birthplace of the national women’s rights movement, and now we are building on that legacy with the enactment of the women’s equality agenda.”

The new laws include:

Achieve Pay Equity: This bill (S. 1 / A. 6075) would strengthen New York State law to truly prohibit employers from paying women less than men for performing the same work. The bill eliminates a loophole in the current law that allows employers to prohibit employees from discussing their salaries under threat of termination or suspension. Specifically, the bill would allow employees to discuss their wages with each other. Further, the bill increases the amount of damages available to an employee if an employer willfully violates the law.

Protect victims of sexual harassment: This bill (S. 2 / A. 5360) protects all employees from sexual harassment in the workplace regardless of the size of the employer. Currently, the definition of “employer” excludes employers with fewer than four employees, thus prohibiting individuals from filing harassment complaints with the Division of Human Rights against those employers. This new law expands the definition of “employer” to cover all employers within New York in sexual harassment cases so that an employee of any business can file a workplace sexual harassment complaint.

Remove Barriers to Remedying Discrimination: This bill (S. 3 / A.7189) allows successful plaintiffs to recover attorneys’ fees in employment or credit discrimination cases based on sex. This law enables victims, most of whom are women, to have the opportunity to vindicate their rights and be made whole in cases where they prevail. Under existing New York State law, plaintiffs cannot recover attorney fees at trial for employment discrimination cases, making it costly to bring a case.

End Family Status Discrimination: This bill (S. 4 / A. 7317) prohibits employment discrimination based on familial status. Currently, New York State law only prohibits discrimination based on familial status in the areas of housing and credit, however, employees often suffer from stereotypes relative to their status as parents or guardians of children under the age of eighteen. Women have been most affected by stereotyped views of parents in the work place and are less likely to be recommended for hire or promoted. This new law prohibits employment agencies, licensing agencies, or labor organizations from discriminating against workers based on their familial status.

Protect Victims of Domestic Violence from Housing Discrimination: This bill (S. 5 / A. 6354-B) prohibits landlords from discriminating against victims of domestic violence. Currently, under New York State law an individual could be denied housing on the basis of his or her status as a victim of domestic violence. This new bill protects victims of domestic violence from discrimination when they attempt to rent or lease housing, and provide them with an affirmative defense in eviction proceedings and a private right of action. Additionally, this bill would create a Task Force to study the impact that source of income has on access to housing.

Protect Victims of Domestic Violence by Strengthening Order-of-Protection Laws: This bill (S. 6 / A. 6262) creates a pilot program to allow domestic violence victims to seek temporary orders of protection through electronic means rather than having to appear in person. Currently domestic violence victims face significant obstacles in securing protection from their abusers. For example, some victims require immediate temporary orders of protection, but have no means to travel to the appropriate family court. To remove these obstacles and ensure these victims are able to secure much-needed orders of protection, this bill would allow the Office of Court Administration to develop a pilot program to allow victims to petition for temporary orders of protection remotely. In addition, this bill ensures that orders of protection are translated, when needed, and makes clear that a victim of domestic violence who has an order of protection against her abuser cannot be accused of violating her own order of protection.

Strengthen Human Trafficking Laws: This bill (S. 7 / A. 506) strengthens existing law in New York State to combat human trafficking. It eliminates the requirement that coercion be proven in a sex trafficking prosecution when the victims are minors, increases penalties for the crime, and creates an affirmative defense in prostitution prosecutions if the defendant was a trafficking victim. In addition, the new law makes it easier for victims of human trafficking to receive support services, and requires training for law enforcement to adequately address human trafficking crimes.

Protect Women from Pregnancy Discrimination: This bill (S. 8 / A. 4272) requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees. Some pregnancies can result in medical conditions requiring certain accommodations within the workplace and current protections for pregnant women are confusing and have been misinterpreted. This new law clarifies that employers must perform a reasonable accommodation analysis for pregnant employees.

“I am proud to see these laws take effect today, and will continue to fight to ensure New York remains a beacon for social justice, fairness and opportunity for all,” Cuomo said.

State Assemblyman Steve Hawley, R-Batavia, issued this statement today:

“I am honored to announce that historic measures to protect New York’s women from things like domestic violence and workplace discrimination have become law today,” Hawley said. “My colleagues and I in the Assembly Minority Conference worked tirelessly to ensure that these individual bills came to the floor for a vote. While members of the Assembly Majority used this issue as campaign rhetoric, we continued our unwavering support and never lost sight of the importance to our state’s women. I am proud to be part of this memorable day and will continue to lead the fight on women’s rights.”

Several car accidents today, but no serious injuries

Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Several inches of snow have fallen today in Orleans County, blanketing the local landscape in white. The top photo shows a Village of Albion plow truck headed down East Park Street at about 5 p.m.

There have been several car accidents. An Orleans County dispatcher said that none of accidents, including a rollover on Ridge Road in Gaines, resulted in serious injuries.

The steps at the Orleans County Courthouse are covered in snow late this afternoon.

The National Weather Service says more snow is on the way. It has issued a lake-effect advisory from midnight tonight until 7 p.m. Tuesday for Orleans County. The Weather Service says the Lake Ontario shoreline will be most impacted.

Another inch of snow could fall tonight, 2 to 4 inches on Monday, 2 to 4 inches on Monday night, an inch or less on Tuesday, and another inch or less Tuesday evening.

Traffic makes its way on Main Street in Albion while snow falls.

Anna Geldard, an Albion High School student, took this photo of a sunset recently in her yard on Pine Hill Road in Barre.

The landscape is expected to get whiter today with 2 to 4 inches of snow forecast for Orleans and Niagara counties. The National Weather Service has issued a lake effect snow advisory for the two counties until 6 p.m. today.

“Most of the accumulation will come in a burst of heavy snow this afternoon,” the Weather Service said.

The snow will create hazardous driving conditions with snow-covered roads and low visibilities, as low as a quarter-mile at times, the Weather Service said.

GCC will start construction in the spring on a new 56,000-square-foot College and Community Events Center in Batavia.

BATAVIA – Genesee Community College expects to break ground this spring on two new buildings that will be more than 74,000 square feet combined.

Construction on the College and Community Event Center located at the far west side of the Batavia campus near the turf field will begin first so as to not interrupt GCC’s activities and spring semester traffic flow. The Student Success Center will begin after the Commencement ceremony on May 22. Project completion for both buildings is expected the following summer in 2017.

The construction bid packages with all the necessary documents for contractors to submit their cost estimates for the project are anticipated to be ready for review on Feb. 8. The proposed deadline for GCC to receive the publicly opened bids is March 8.

JMZ Architects and Planners anticipates five different bid packages for Site Work, General Contracting, Electrical, Plumbing/Fire Protection, and Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC).

As stipulated by the Board of Trustees during the early planning process, JMZ is crafting the bid packages to attract as many local contractors as possible. The two separate facilities, the 18,500-square-foot Student Success Center and the 56,000-square-foot College and Community Events Center, are being built on parallel construction schedules allowing contractors to bid on both projects or individual projects.

“We anticipate good participation from the local construction community and will be reaching out to them,” Kristin G. Schmitt, principal of JMZ, told the GCC Board of Trustees on Monday.

The new Student Success Center will connect with the Conable Technology Building through a second level bridge.

The projects will also be announced in area newspapers and the Dodge Report. Once the bidding and project award process is complete, construction will begin in April with a formal ground breaking ceremony scheduled for Thursday, April 28, 2016 at 4 p.m.

In addition to reviewing the construction schedule, Schmitt presented six different schematic presentation boards that illustrated both buildings employing state-of-the-art graphics that combine photographs of the existing facilities blended with the new architectural renderings.

A dramatic Student Success Center is shown at night with the lights from the large glass foray reflecting out onto the Clock Tower Plaza. Interior illustrations reveal an open lobby and lounge with two-story glass windows, an open stair case and a fire place.

“This will be the new front door to the whole campus,” said GCC President James Sunser. “The new facility is exciting, but more exciting is how it will allow us to reinvent how we support our students in being successful. Like a case manager, our new student success coaches will know what students need and proactively help them through the process.”

Interior and exterior renderings of the College and Community Events Center were also reviewed illustrating the dual facility. The sizable arena, which will be the largest open floor space in the GLOW region (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties), is accented by a long, glassed-in arcade leading to the central entrance and lobby that connects the two buildings.

The smaller building provides classrooms, locker rooms, coaches’ offices, the fitness center, meeting rooms and a press box overlooking the existing turf field. The large arena will not only accommodate an array of athletic competitions, but the open space will allow all kinds of civic, community, trade, industry as well as college events-from farm, boat and tractor shows to commencement ceremonies where a whole family can sit together. The new facility is expected to draw as many as 500,000 visitors to the campus each year.

Both presentation boards included samples of different flooring, brickwork, ceiling and wall tiles, window mullions, paint, stair treads and counter tops. Combined, the two projects will provide an additional 74,000 square feet of new indoor space at GCC, allowing the college to repurpose some of the existing space for labs and classrooms accommodating new academic programs such as Nanotechnology AAS.

The overall building project follows GCC’s Facilities Master Plan, which was approved by the Board and SUNY (State University of New York) more than two years ago.