Can my boss be personally liable under the New York City Human Rights Law?

Who does this apply to?

Anyone bringing a City law claim who wants to name an individual as well as the company.

The rules

• Individuals. The shareholders, agents, limited partners and employees of a business are not “employers” under the City law; each “may incur liability only for their own discriminatory conduct, for aiding and abetting such conduct by others, or for retaliation” (Doe v Bloomberg L.P., 36 N.Y.3d 450, 459 (2021); Admin. Code § 8-107(1), (6), (7)).
• Aiding and abetting needs an underlying violation (Cronemeyer v City of New York, 248 A.D.3d 432, 433 (1st Dep’t 2026)).
• The company and its managers. The employer is liable for discrimination by an employee who “exercised managerial or supervisory responsibility” (§ 8-107(13)(b)(1)), and for a coworker’s if it knew and acquiesced or failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action, or should have known and did not use reasonable diligence to prevent it (§ 8-107(13)(b)(2)–(3)).
• No anti-harassment-policy defense. The federal defense based on an employer’s policy and the employee’s failure to use it does not apply to City law claims. For a supervisor’s conduct, a policy can reduce penalties and punitive damages, not compensatory damages or fees; it can defeat liability only where the claim is that the employer should have known about a coworker’s conduct (Zakrzewska v New School, 14 N.Y.3d 469, 479–81 (2010)).

What courts have said

In Doe the Court of Appeals, 6–1, affirmed the dismissal of the claims against the company’s founder personally. The appeal concerned only whether he could be liable as an “employer,” and the court said liberal construction “must be reasonable and grounded in the language of the local law” (36 N.Y.3d at 462).

What should I gather?

• What each person did or said, and when.
• Who had authority over you, and who took part in the decisions.
• Whether you reported it, to whom, and what was done.