Harassment by Customers, Clients, Patients or Vendors in New York

An employer may be legally responsible for harassment committed by people who do not work for it. Under the EEOC's federal regulation on sexual harassment, the employer may be responsible for a non-employee's harassment of its employees where it knew or should have known of the conduct and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action, and New York State's guidance says harassment by customers, clients and other third parties is covered under the State Human Rights Law.⁠^[1][3]

Two different situations are often mixed up, and the law treats them separately:

• You are an employee and the harasser is an outsider, such as a customer, client, patient, vendor or visitor. The question is what your own employer knew and did.⁠^[1]
• You are the outsider, such as a contractor, vendor or consultant working at another business's site. In New York State a specific provision, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296-d, protects you there.⁠^[4]

Federal law: knew or should have known, and failed to act

The EEOC's regulation on sexual harassment states that an employer may be responsible for the acts of non-employees, with respect to sexual harassment of employees in the workplace, where the employer or its agents or supervisory employees knows or should have known of the conduct and fails to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.⁠^[1] In reviewing those cases the EEOC considers the extent of the employer's control and any other legal responsibility the employer may have with respect to the conduct of the non-employees.⁠^[1] The agency's national-origin guidelines contain the same rule for harassment on the basis of national origin.⁠^[6]

The Second Circuit, the federal appeals court that covers New York, adopted the EEOC's approach in 2013. It imputes liability to the employer for harassment by non-employees according to the same standards that apply to non-supervisory coworkers, with the qualification that the court will consider the extent of the employer's control over the non-employees.⁠^[2] Under that coworker standard, the employee has to show that the employer failed to provide a reasonable avenue for complaint, or that it knew or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known about the harassment yet failed to take appropriate remedial action.⁠^[7]

The EEOC's current public summary puts it in plain terms: the employer will be liable for harassment by non-employees over whom it has control, giving independent contractors or customers on the premises as examples, if it knew or should have known about the harassment and failed to take prompt and appropriate corrective action.⁠^[8]

Two limits apply. The conduct itself still has to meet the federal severe-or-pervasive test for harassment, and Title VII applies only to employers with 15 or more employees.⁠^[9][10] Also, the EEOC's 2024 enforcement guidance on harassment was rescinded by a Commission vote on January 22, 2026, and should not be cited as current agency policy; the regulation and the court decisions described above were not affected.⁠^[11][12]

New York State law: what the statute says and what the State's guidance says

The New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to subject any individual to harassment because of a protected characteristic, and harassment is unlawful when it subjects the individual to inferior terms, conditions or privileges of employment.⁠^[13] The statute covers all employers within the state.⁠^[14]

The NYSHRL does not contain a subdivision that expressly addresses an employer's responsibility when the harasser is a customer, client or other outsider and the person harassed is an employee.⁠^[15] The State's position on that situation comes from its published guidance. The State's sexual harassment FAQ says:⁠^[3]

Harassment by a third-party, including customers, clients, constituents, or any other individual being served by an employee, is covered under the New York State Human Rights Law.⁠^[3]

The same guidance says that any employee experiencing harassment by a third party can report the behavior to their manager, and that any manager witnessing it is obligated to accommodate the needs of the employee, including by reassigning the employee away from the harassing customer or requesting that the customer leave.⁠^[3]

The State's model sexual harassment prevention policy is consistent with that guidance. It says harassers can be anyone in the workplace, including an independent contractor, contract worker, vendor, client, customer, patient, constituent or visitor.⁠^[5] Among its examples of sexual harassment it lists sexual advances or pressure placed on a service industry employee by customers or clients, especially in industries where hospitality and tips are essential to the customer and employee relationship.⁠^[16]

Common mistake about § 296-d. Exec. Law § 296-d is not the provision on customers who harass employees. By its text, § 296-d protects non-employees who provide services in the workplace, such as contractors, vendors and consultants. It does not itself say that an employer is liable when a customer harasses an employee.⁠^[4]

The guidance quoted above is an agency statement in the State's FAQ on workplace sexual harassment, not a court ruling. This guide does not state a court-made liability standard for customer harassment under State law; that is a question for a lawyer. The federal "knew or should have known" rule above is a federal rule.⁠^[1]

New York City law

The New York City Human Rights Law (NYCHRL) treats harassment as discrimination in the terms, conditions or privileges of employment, and asks whether the employee was treated less well than other employees because of a protected characteristic.⁠^[17][18] Its subdivision on employer responsibility, N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(13), is written in terms of the conduct of an "employee or agent" and of persons employed as independent contractors.⁠^[19][20]

For a person the employer engaged as an independent contractor, the City statute makes the employer liable only where the conduct was committed in the course of that work and the employer had actual knowledge of and acquiesced in it.⁠^[20] This guide does not state a separate City standard written specifically for customers or patients.

Coverage differs too: Title VII reaches only employers with 15 or more employees, the State law covers all employers within the state, and the City law generally does not cover an employer with fewer than four persons, except that a gender-based harassment claim can be brought against any employer.⁠^{[10][14][21][22]}

Question	Federal law	New York State	New York City
Is there an express rule for outsiders who harass employees?	Yes, in EEOC regulations on sexual and national-origin harassment, adopted by the Second Circuit.⁠[1][6][2]	No express statutory subdivision; State guidance says third-party harassment is covered under the Human Rights Law.⁠[15][3]	The employer-liability subdivision addresses employees, agents and independent contractors.⁠[19][20]
What triggers the employer's responsibility?	It knew or should have known and failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.⁠[1]	Guidance: a manager who witnesses the harassment is obligated to accommodate the employee.⁠[3]	For an engaged independent contractor: actual knowledge and acquiescence.⁠[20]
Does the employer's control over the outsider matter?	Yes; it is considered.⁠[1][2]	It is a stated factor in § 296-d cases involving non-employee workers.⁠[4]	The statute's contractor rule applies to conduct in the course of the contractor's work for the employer.⁠[20]
Are non-employee workers themselves protected?	The EEOC says people who are not employed by the employer, such as independent contractors, are not covered by the laws it enforces.⁠[23]	Yes, under § 296-d.⁠[4]	Yes; employee protections apply to interns, freelancers and independent contractors.⁠[24]

If you are the contractor, vendor or consultant

New York State law protects people who work in a business's workplace without being its employees. Under § 296-d of the NYSHRL, it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to permit unlawful discrimination against non-employees in its workplace.⁠^[4] The employer may be held liable to a contractor, subcontractor, vendor, consultant or other person providing services under a contract in the workplace, or to that person's employee, when the employer, its agents or supervisors knew or should have known that the non-employee was subjected to an unlawful discriminatory practice in the workplace and the employer failed to take immediate and appropriate corrective action.⁠^[4]

In those cases the extent of the employer's control, and any other legal responsibility it has, over the conduct of the person who engaged in the practice is to be considered.⁠^[4] The provision was first enacted in 2018 for sexual harassment only, and the 2019 amendments widened it to every unlawful discriminatory practice.⁠^[25]

The State's guidance speaks directly to people placed at a client's site: both your employer and the business that operates the worksite are required to provide you with a harassment-free workplace, and you should report the conduct to both.⁠^[26] The table above shows the City and federal positions. The guides on who is protected and on independent contractors and gig workers go further.

What an employer can do about a customer

An employer cannot discipline a customer the way it can an employee, but the sources name concrete steps. The State's guidance gives two: reassigning the employee away from the harassing customer, or requesting that the customer leave.⁠^[3] Under federal law the question is whether the corrective action was immediate and appropriate, measured against the control the employer has over the person.⁠^[1]

The guide for managers and small employers collects the related duties.

Practical steps if a customer, client or patient is harassing you

The federal rule asks what the employer knew or should have known and what it then did, so when and what management was told is relevant to it.⁠^[1] These steps are practical suggestions, not legal conditions:

1. Tell a manager, in writing if you can, what happened, who the customer or client was, and that you believe it was connected to your sex, race or another protected characteristic.
2. Write down dates, times, locations, what was said or done, and who else saw it. Keep copies of messages the person sent you.
3. Note what the manager did in response and when, including whether the person was allowed back or you were assigned to them again.
4. If the conduct continues after you reported it, report it again and keep a record of each report.

The guides on how to report harassment at work and documenting workplace harassment cover these steps, and sexual harassment in restaurants, retail and domestic work covers the industries where customer contact is constant. If the employer itself responds badly to your report, see what counts as workplace retaliation.

What people commonly get wrong

• "The harasser doesn't work here, so the employer has no responsibility." Under the EEOC's federal regulations on sexual and national-origin harassment an employer may be responsible for the acts of non-employees, and New York State's guidance says third-party harassment is covered under the Human Rights Law.⁠^[1][6][3]
• "The employer is automatically liable for anything a customer does." The federal rule depends on what the employer knew or should have known, whether it took immediate and appropriate corrective action, and the extent of its control.⁠^[1]
• "Section 296-d only covers sexual harassment." That was the 2018 text; since the 2019 amendment it covers every unlawful discriminatory practice.⁠^[25]