Harassment Because of a Disability: Hostile Work Environment Rules in New York

Harassment because of a disability can be an unlawful hostile work environment under federal, New York State and New York City law, but each law uses a different test. The federal test asks whether the harassment was "severe or pervasive"; the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) expressly drops that requirement; and the New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) asks whether the person was treated less well because of the disability.⁠^[1][2][7]

This page applies the general harassment rules to disability. For the rules that apply to every protected characteristic, start with what a hostile work environment is in New York.

The three standards side by side

Question	Federal law (ADA)	New York State (NYSHRL)	New York City (NYCHRL)
Where the rule comes from	The Second Circuit's 2019 decision in Fox v. Costco Wholesale Corp., which held that hostile work environment claims are cognizable under the ADA.⁠[1]	Executive Law § 296(1)(h), which names disability and predisposing genetic characteristics among the protected categories for harassment.⁠[2]	The ban on discrimination in "terms, conditions or privileges of employment"; the City law has no separate harassment section.⁠[8]
The test	Harassment sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment, plus a specific basis for imputing the conduct to the employer.⁠[1]	Harassment that subjects a person to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the protected category, regardless of whether it would be considered severe or pervasive.⁠[2]	Whether the person was treated less well than other employees because of the protected characteristic.⁠[7]
The floor	Under Title VII, whose test Fox borrowed, the Supreme Court has said simple teasing, offhand comments and isolated incidents, unless extremely serious, are not enough.⁠[9][1]	An affirmative defense that the conduct does not rise above what a reasonable victim of discrimination with the same protected characteristic would consider petty slights or trivial inconveniences.⁠[2]	An affirmative defense, on which the employer has the burden, that the conduct was nothing more than petty slights and trivial inconveniences.⁠[4]
Which employers	Employers with 15 or more employees.⁠[5]	All employers within the state.⁠[6]	Generally, employers with four or more persons in their employ.⁠[10]

What disability harassment looks like

The sources give a few concrete examples:

• The EEOC, describing federal law, lists "imitating a person's disability-based limitations" among its examples of harassing conduct.⁠^[11]
• The NYC Commission on Human Rights says that under the City law harassment may include comments, gestures, jokes or pictures that target an individual based on their disability, or that are about disabilities more generally.⁠^[3]
• The Commission also says that when a person's disability and the need for an accommodation are readily apparent or already known, making additional inquiries or asking for medical documentation may constitute harassment.⁠^[12]

EEOC charge data give a sense of scale. In fiscal year 2025, 36,256 of the 88,201 charges filed with the EEOC nationally alleged disability discrimination.⁠^[13] Those figures count all disability charges, not harassment charges alone.

The federal standard: Fox v. Costco and "severe or pervasive"

In 2019, in Fox v. Costco Wholesale Corp., the Second Circuit, the federal appeals court that covers New York, joined other federal circuits in holding that hostile work environment claims are cognizable under the ADA.⁠^[1] To prevail on the federal claim, the employee must show that the harassment was sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment and create an abusive working environment, and that a specific basis exists for imputing the conduct to the employer.⁠^[1]

That is the same wording the Supreme Court uses for Title VII harassment claims.⁠^[14] Under Title VII, courts look at all the circumstances, which may include how frequent the conduct is, how severe it is, whether it is physically threatening or humiliating or a mere offensive utterance, and whether it unreasonably interferes with work performance.⁠^[15] The environment must be one a reasonable person would find hostile or abusive, and the employee must personally perceive it that way.⁠^[16]

The federal claim also has a size limit. The ADA's employment title covers an employer only if it has 15 or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.⁠^[5] The federal test is explained in full in the guide to the federal hostile work environment test.

The New York State standard: no "severe or pervasive" requirement

Under the NYSHRL it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to subject any individual to harassment because of a protected characteristic, and the statute's list includes disability and predisposing genetic characteristics.⁠^[2] The harassment is unlawful "regardless of whether such harassment would be considered severe or pervasive under precedent applied to harassment claims," when it subjects the person to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of membership in a protected category.⁠^[2]

Three more features of the State statute matter in disability cases:

• The employer's defense. It is an affirmative defense that the harassing conduct does not rise above what a reasonable victim of discrimination with the same protected characteristic or characteristics would consider petty slights or trivial inconveniences.⁠^[2]
• No comparator. The statute says an employee does not have to identify another person to whom their treatment must be compared.⁠^[2]
• Internal complaints. The fact that the person did not complain to the employer is not determinative of whether the employer is liable.⁠^[2]

The State provision took effect on October 11, 2019, and applies only to claims accruing on or after that date.⁠^[17] For State-law claims that accrued earlier, courts applied the older severe-or-pervasive test.⁠^[18] The change is traced in why "severe or pervasive" no longer applies to State claims.

The New York City standard: "treated less well"

The City law protects against discrimination because of an actual or perceived disability.⁠^[19] Harassment claims are brought under its ban on discrimination in terms, conditions or privileges of employment, and the liability question is whether the employee has shown, by a preponderance of the evidence, that they were treated less well than other employees because of the protected characteristic.⁠^[8][7]

The NYC Commission on Human Rights applies that test to disability in its December 2025 enforcement guidance. It states that creating a hostile environment on the basis of disability violates the City law, that harassment related to an actual or perceived disability may consist of a single or isolated incident or a pattern of repeated acts, and that the severity or pervasiveness of the harassment is relevant only to damages.⁠^[3] Courts applying the City law have said the same about severity and pervasiveness, and that even a single comment may be actionable in the proper context.⁠^[20][21]

There are limits. The City law is not a general civility code; the employee must still show that the conduct was caused, at least in part, by a discriminatory motive.⁠^[22] And the employer can avoid liability by proving that the conduct amounted to no more than what a reasonable victim of discrimination would consider petty slights and trivial inconveniences.⁠^[4] See the guides to the City's "treated less well" standard and the petty slights defense.

Harassment or a legitimate question about your health?

Not every conversation about a medical condition is harassment. Employers sometimes have to talk about health in order to handle an accommodation. In New York City, the Commission says an employer that knows an employee's performance has diminished and has a reasonable basis to believe the issue is related to a disability must initiate a cooperative dialogue about whether an accommodation is needed, and that the employer should not assume the employee has a disability.⁠^[23][24] Under the New York State regulation, an employer has a duty to move forward to consider accommodation once the need is known or requested.⁠^[25]

The law also limits those questions. Under federal law, an employer may not ask a current employee whether they have a disability, or about its nature or severity, unless the inquiry is shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.⁠^[26] In New York City, the Commission says an employer generally cannot require disclosure of the specific diagnosis and may not ask for unrelated documentation such as complete medical records.⁠^[27] The guide on what an employer can ask about a medical condition goes through the stages.

Ordinary performance management is a separate matter as well. The New York State regulation says the Human Rights Law does not require accommodation of behaviors that do not meet workplace behavior standards consistently applied to all similarly situated employees.⁠^[28] General rudeness that has nothing to do with a protected characteristic is discussed in bullying versus illegal harassment.

When is the employer responsible for the harasser's conduct?

Under federal law, Fox requires a specific basis for imputing the conduct to the employer.⁠^[1] In Title VII cases the Supreme Court has said an employer is liable for a co-worker's harassment only if it was negligent in controlling working conditions.⁠^[29]

Under New York State law, Court of Appeals decisions from before the 2019 amendments held that an employer is liable for an employee's discriminatory act only if it became a party to it by encouraging, condoning or approving it; the Court described that State rule again in 2021.⁠^[30][31] The 2019 amendments added the sentence that an employee's failure to complain is not determinative of the employer's liability.⁠^[2]

In New York City, the statute makes an employer liable for discriminatory conduct by an employee or agent who exercised managerial or supervisory responsibility.⁠^[32] For other employees, the City employer is liable if it knew of the conduct and acquiesced or failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action, or if it should have known and failed to exercise reasonable diligence to prevent it.⁠^[33][34]

Individuals can be responsible too. Under the State law, any person who aids, abets, incites, compels or coerces a forbidden act commits an unlawful discriminatory practice.⁠^[35] Under the City law, individuals may be liable for their own discriminatory conduct.⁠^[36] The guides to supervisor and co-worker harassment and personal liability give the detail.

Harassment that starts after an accommodation request

Hostility that begins after a person asks for an accommodation or complains may also be retaliation. The State harassment provision itself covers harassment because a person opposed forbidden practices or filed a complaint.⁠^[2] Under New York State law, requesting a reasonable accommodation has been expressly listed as protected activity since a law signed on December 5, 2025.⁠^[37] The New York City law has protected accommodation requests from retaliation since November 11, 2019.⁠^[38] The federal ADA makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with any individual in the exercise of ADA rights.⁠^[39] The standards are in what workplace retaliation is.

Time limits at a glance

Where	Time limit
EEOC charge for a federal ADA claim	300 days from the alleged harm for a disability charge in New York, against an employer with 15 or more employees.⁠[40]
Division of Human Rights complaint (New York State)	Three years after the alleged practice, for claims arising on or after February 15, 2024; the earlier text set one year, with three years for sexual harassment in employment.⁠[41][42]
Court action under the NYSHRL	Three years.⁠[43]
NYC Commission on Human Rights complaint	One year after the alleged practice occurred.⁠[44]
Court action under the NYCHRL	Three years after the alleged practice occurred.⁠[45]

These are summaries. Exceptions, public-employer rules and how the clocks interact are set out in New York employment claim deadlines.

Practical steps

• Write down what was said or done, when, where and who was present, as close to the event as you can.
• Keep messages, emails and photographs in the form you received them.
• Read your employer's complaint policy; how to report harassment or discrimination at work explains the usual channels.
• If the conduct is tied to an accommodation you asked for, keep a copy of the request and any reply.