Holland v. Edwards

282 A.D. 353, 122 N.Y.S.2d 721, 32 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2490, 1953 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4474
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedJuly 7, 1953
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 282 A.D. 353 (Holland v. Edwards) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Holland v. Edwards, 282 A.D. 353, 122 N.Y.S.2d 721, 32 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2490, 1953 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4474 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1953).

Opinions

Bergan, J.

The petitioner Holland operates an employment agency and by this proceeding reviews a determination by the State Commission Against Discrimination containing directives and requirements affecting petitioner’s business.

By a separate proceeding in pursuance of the New York Law Against Discrimination (Executive Law, art. 15) the commission seeks an order compelling compliance with its determination. The court at Special Term has dismissed the Holland petition to annul the determination and has granted the order of compliance sought by the commission. From these decisions embodied in one order Holland appeals.

The record made at a hearing of the charges before the commission is factually undisputed, since petitioner who had filed an answer and who was present with her attorney at the hearing on June 16,1952, rested before any testimony was taken and left the hearing room.

Rue Kingsley was the main witness at the hearing. She testified that on September 18,1951, in response to a newspaper advertisement for a secretary she went to the Holland agency in New York and made application. She has married since [356]*356that date; before her marriage her name was Rue Lehds. She testified that she was given an employment application form which she filled out. Among other things, it contained a question whether her family name or her name was ever changed legally or otherwise.”

She testified that after the form was filled out she was interviewed by Miss Holland, who said to her on looking over the application form that “ one of the schools sounded like a British school. ’ ’ The testimony continued: ‘ ‘ And then she proceeded to inquire about ” a former employer listed on the application. She asked if he was Jewish. I said yes ’. And there was a further question about that. I remember answering it or rather qualifying it by saying I believed he was of German-Jewish descent ”. The testimony continued that inquiry was then made as to the maiden name of that employer’s wife. ‘ ‘ She proceeded to ask me to spell it out, which I did. She then said ‘ What sort of name is that? ’ * * * She then commented on the spelling of my name * * *. She said it was a rather odd spelling. I believe she asked if it was British. She then told me she was a Canadian.”

The decision of the commission after factual findings which seem to us fully justified by the record, was that the oral and written inquiries described in the testimony taken together, expressed a limitation, specification or discrimination as to creed and national origin, not based on a bona fide occupational qualification.” It was further determined that the form of application ” itself “ expresses a limitation, specification or discrimination as to creed and national origin.”

The order which was entered by the commission based on its findings and decision was that the petitioner Holland cease and desist ” from certain acts while acting in the course of business as an employment agency. This order may be summarized by saying that it prohibited the making of “ any inquiries ” either directly or indirectly ” when interviewing applicants for employment “ respecting race, creed, color or national origin ”; from giving consideration to those factors in evaluating applicants; and from using in the application blanks reference to change of family name unless previously approved by the commission.

The commission’s order contained certain additional requirements for affirmative action by the petitioner Holland. Among the requirements were a direction to apply the same standards [357]*357for evaluation of all applicants for employment without considering race, creed, color or national origin; a direction not to furnish prospective employers information on these subjects; not to accept orders from prospective employers containing any such limitations; and to furnish the commission with all job orders “ which raise a question ” whether a limitation or specification, discriminatory under the intent of the statute is intended.

The commission further directed that the petitioner furnish it for a period of a year a list of persons who apply for employment, with the results obtained; and a list of all job orders placed and the referrals thereto; and to make available to the commission books and records of the business.

The petitioner’s argument here in the main part is that she made no inquiries which could be regarded as an unlawful employment practice; that the form of application blank used was not unlawful; that the commission has no jurisdiction over the petitioner; that there is, in any event, no basis for some of the affirmative directions in the commission’s order.

We concern ourselves first of all with the scope of the commission’s power. Its range may be seen by examining the problem with which the Legislature dealt by chapter 118 of the Laws of 1945 and the tasks which it imposed on the commission to carry out the policy of the State announced in its Law Against Discrimination.

In an express “ exercise of the police power,” and in fulfillment of the guaranty of the Constitution for civil rights, the Legislature found that the practice of discrimination against any of New York’s inhabitants because of race, creed, color or national origin ” is both a threat to the rights of inhabitants and a menace to the democratic state. (L. 1945, ch. 118; Executive Law, § 125, now § 290).

The commission was created by that section “ with power to eliminate and prevent discrimination in employment ” based on considerations of race, creed, color or national origin, “ either by employers, labor organizations, employment agencies or other persons ”. Besides being authorized to eliminate and prevent such discrimination the commission was given an omnibus grant of power to “ take other actions against discrimination ’ ’ as defined in the statute and given an additional grant of “ general jurisdiction and power ” for the purposes described. The language originally employed has been amended somewhat in detail (L. 1952, ch. 285) but the changes certainly did not narrow the power of the commission.

[358]*358It would not be easy to conceive authority more broadly stated than this was by the Legislature in its delegation to the commission, and within the area of prescribed action and in the field of discrimination as defined by the statute the jurisdiction of the commission must be taken as plenary.

The plenary powers thus granted are given plenary implementation. The commission shall “ formulate policies to effectuate the purposes of this article ”. (§ 294 in the current enumeration.) Upon finding after a hearing that a respondent has engaged in an unlawful employment practice within the definition of the statute, the commission shall issue an order “ requiring such respondent to cease and desist ” from such practice “ and to take such affirmative action ” as “in the judgment of the commission, will effectuate the purposes of this article, and including a requirement for report of the manner of compliance.” (§ 297.)

The Supreme Court has a dual function in all this which differs somewhat in its detail from the relationship generally standing between court and administrative agency (§ 298).

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282 A.D. 353, 122 N.Y.S.2d 721, 32 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2490, 1953 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 4474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/holland-v-edwards-nyappdiv-1953.