§ 84 — Unlawful acts

§ 84. Unlawful acts. 1. It is unlawful for the holder of a license,\nissued under this article, or for any employee of such licensee,\nknowingly to commit any of the following acts within or without the\nstate of New York: to incite, encourage, or aid in the incitement or\nencouragement of any person or persons who have become a party to any\nstrike, to do unlawful acts against the person or property of any one,\nor to incite, stir up, create or aid in the inciting of discontent or\ndissatisfaction among the employees of any person, firm, limited\nliability company or corporation with the intention of having them\nstrike; to interfere or prevent lawful and peaceful picketing during\nstrikes; to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the\nexercise of their right to form, join or assist any labor organization\nof their own choosing; to interfere or hinder the lawful or peaceful\ncollective bargaining between employees and employers; to pay, offer, or\ngive any money, gratuity, favor, consideration, or other thing of value,\ndirectly or indirectly, to any person for any verbal or written report\nof the lawful activities of employees in the exercise of their right of\nself-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations and to\nbargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing; to\nadvertise for, recruit, furnish or replace or offer to furnish or\nreplace for hire or reward, within or without the state of New York, any\nhelp or labor, skilled or unskilled, or to furnish or offer to furnish\narmed guards, other than armed guards theretofore regularly employed for\nthe protection of payrolls, property or premises, for service upon\nproperty which is being operated in anticipation of or during the course\nor existence of a strike, or furnish armed guards upon the highways, for\npersons involved in labor disputes or to furnish or offer to furnish to\nemployers or their agents, any arms, munitions, tear gas implements, or\nany other weapons; or to send letters or literature to employers\noffering to eliminate labor unions or distribute or circulate any list\nof members of a labor organization, or to advise any person of the\nmembership of an individual in a labor organization for the express\npurpose of preventing those so listed or named from obtaining or\nretaining employment. The violation of any of the provisions of this\nsection shall constitute a misdemeanor and shall be punishable by a fine\nof not less than five hundred dollars, or one year's imprisonment or\nboth. It is unlawful for the holder of a license to collect or offer or\nattempt to collect or directly or indirectly engage in the business of\ncollecting of debts or claims of any kind, excepting that the taking\npossession, on behalf of a secured party having the right to do so under\nsection 9--609 of the uniform commercial code, of property in the\npossession of a debtor who has defaulted in the performance of a\nsecurity agreement secured by such property, shall not be considered a\nviolation of this section and excepting further that the secretary of\nstate may grant exemption from this prohibition in the collection of\ndebts to licensees who are principally engaged in the business of credit\ninvestigation and credit reporting. It is unlawful for the holder of a\nlicense to furnish or perform any services described in subdivisions one\nand two of section seventy-one of this article on a contingent or\npercentage basis or to make or enter into any agreement for furnishing\nservices of any kind or character, by the terms or conditions of which\nagreement the compensation to be paid for such services to the holder of\na license is partially or wholly contingent or based upon a percentage\nof the amount of money or property recovered or dependent in any way\nupon the result achieved. It shall be unlawful for a holder of a license\nto use, display, cause to be printed or distributed, cards,\nletter-heads, circulars, brochures or any other advertising material or\nadvertisement in which any name or indicia of the license status of the\nlicensee is set forth in any manner other than the name under which the\nlicensee is duly licensed. It is unlawful for a licensed private\ninvestigator or bail enforcement agent to own, have or possess or in any\nmanner to wear, exhibit or display, a shield or badge of any material,\nkind, nature or description, in the performance of any of the activities\nas private investigator or bail enforcement agent, as distinguished from\nwatch, guard or patrol agency, under this article. It is unlawful for a\nlicensed private investigator or bail enforcement agent to issue to any\nperson employed by such licensee, a badge or shield of any material,\nkind, nature or description, and it is unlawful for any person employed\nby such licensee to possess, carry or display a badge or shield of any\ndescription provided that any licensed private investigator or bail\nenforcement agent who also engages in the business of watch, guard or\npatrol agency may possess, use or display or issue to employees in the\nconduct of such business, a rectangular metal or woven insignia to be\nworn on the outer clothing and approved by the department of state,\nwhich insignia shall not be larger than three inches high or four inches\nwide with an inscription thereon containing the word "watchman",\n"guard", "patrol" or "special service" and the name of the licensee. It\nshall be unlawful for any licensee to publish or cause to be published\nany advertisement, letter-head, circular, statement or phrase of any\nsort which suggests that the licensee is an official police or\ninvestigative agency or any other agency instrumentality of the state of\nNew York or any of its political subdivisions. It shall be unlawful for\nany licensee to make any statement which would reasonably cause another\nperson to believe that the licensee is a police officer or official\ninvestigator of the state of New York or any of its political\nsubdivisions. It shall be unlawful for a licensee to offer, by radio,\ntelevision, newspaper advertisement or any other means of communication,\nto perform services at any location which is merely the location of a\ntelephone answer service unless full disclosure of that fact is made in\nthe advertisement.\n 2. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of subdivision one of\nthis section, a private investigator may contract with a local social\nservices district to furnish or perform services for the location of\nabsent parents and fathers of children born out of wedlock on a\ncontingent basis.\n