New York State Leads the Nation in Protecting Transgender Workers’ Rights in 2024

As we move through 2024, transgender employees in New York State enjoy some of the strongest workplace protections in the nation. From comprehensive anti-discrimination laws to explicit health insurance coverage requirements, the Empire State continues to set the standard for LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Understanding these rights is crucial for both transgender workers and their employers, as Governor Hochul released a first-of-its-kind report that details the experiences of transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary New Yorkers in the workplace.

Comprehensive Legal Protections Under GENDA

In 2019, the Human Rights Law was amended through the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) to explicitly add gender identity or expression as a protected category. This landmark legislation ensures that discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression is prohibited in all areas covered by the Human Rights Law, including employment, housing, and public accommodations.

Under these protections, it is illegal to refuse to hire, to fire, or to refuse to promote someone due to that person’s actual or perceived gender, including the person’s actual or perceived status as someone who is transgender. It is illegal for an employer to set different terms for a transgender person’s employment because that person is transgender.

Name Changes and Workplace Identity Rights

One of the most significant aspects of New York’s transgender workplace protections involves proper name and pronoun usage. The New York City Human Rights Law does state that intentionally failing to use an employee’s preferred name, pronoun, or title may violate the law. However, accidentally using an incorrect pronoun or a single mistake likely does not trigger the law’s protections, but transgender employees can file a complaint if incorrect pronoun usage rises to the level of harassment.

For transgender employees facing challenges with workplace identity recognition, consulting with an experienced lgbt discrimination lawyer can provide crucial guidance on protecting these fundamental rights. An employer cannot require their employees to prove their gender identity with medical documents or a court order as a condition for referring to them as the proper gender pronoun.

Bathroom Access Rights

Bathroom access remains a critical workplace issue for transgender employees. It has been illegal in New York City to discriminate against an individual on the basis of gender identity or expression, including denying access to bathrooms, since 2002. The law is clear: workers are supposed to be able to use the bathroom that is consistent with their own gender identity, regardless of which sex they were assigned at birth, their appearance, their anatomy, or what their identification says.

Importantly, if there are single-sex facilities and a single-occupancy restroom, it is unlawful to force the transgender employee to use the single-occupancy restroom rather than the facility that corresponds to their gender identity. Additionally, New York law requires all single-occupancy bathrooms located in public places, including schools, restaurants, bars, and other establishments, to be gender-neutral by removing any signage designating the bathroom as “male” or “female” and replace it with signage indicating it is open to people of all genders.

Health Insurance Coverage Requirements

New York State has established comprehensive health insurance coverage requirements for transgender-related care. Insurers must cover medically necessary treatment for “gender dysphoria” if the benefits are otherwise covered under the health insurance policy (for example, surgery, hospital stays, mental health care, and office visits).

The state’s approach to health insurance coverage is particularly progressive. Insurance carriers in New York are complying with new State requirements to provide coverage for all gender-affirming treatments for gender dysphoria, and previously, many of these plans excluded some or all gender-affirming treatments as cosmetic.

For Medicaid recipients, coverage is available for hormone therapy (including cross-sex hormones and pubertal suppressants), surgeries, and other procedures. To receive coverage, you have to have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and your doctor’s notification that the treatment you seek is medically necessary.

The Reality of Workplace Discrimination

Despite these strong legal protections, challenges persist. Employment discrimination rooted in gender identity permeates every corner of the state, and surveys with transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary respondents conducted in New York State have found that transgender people face higher rates of unemployment, lower incomes, less educational attainment and higher rates of justice involvement due to discrimination.

The 2024 state employment study revealed concerning findings: genuine safety concerns plague the workplace experiences of transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary individuals, and discrimination and various barriers have pushed transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary New Yorkers toward pursuing self-employment opportunities.

Legal Resources and Support

The Howley Law Firm, located in Manhattan, represents a new generation of employment law practices dedicated to protecting individual workers’ rights. The firm focuses on representing individuals in the areas of employment rights in New York, bringing 20 years of experience representing companies such as Pfizer, Texaco, Citibank, and Sony as a partner in a large corporate law firm to individual clients who need the same level of sophisticated legal representation.

With two experienced attorneys and a keen eye for quality, this small law firm is able to dedicate more one-on-one time to hand-picked clients, understanding that more than legal rights are at stake – employees also need to protect their reputation and career.

Moving Forward

New York State’s comprehensive approach to transgender workplace rights in 2024 represents a model for the nation. From explicit anti-discrimination protections to mandatory health insurance coverage and bathroom access rights, the state has created a framework that recognizes the fundamental dignity and equality of all workers.

However, the gap between legal protections and workplace reality remains significant. Any New Yorker who feels they have been discriminated against in the hiring process or workplace can file a complaint with the Division of Human Rights online, by mail, or in person. For transgender employees facing workplace discrimination, understanding these rights and having access to experienced legal counsel remains essential for ensuring that New York’s progressive laws translate into real workplace equality.

As we continue through 2024, the ongoing implementation and enforcement of these protections will determine whether New York’s leadership in transgender workplace rights creates lasting change for the thousands of transgender, gender non-conforming, and non-binary workers across the state.