2017 New York Laws
VAT - Vehicle & Traffic
Title 3 - Safety Responsibility; Financial Security; Equipment; Inspection; Size and Weight; and Other Provisions
Article 9 - Equipment of Motor Vehicles and Motorcycles
375-A - Prohibition Against Retaliatory Action.

 375-a. Prohibition  against  retaliatory action. 1. Definitions. For
  purposes of this section:
(a) "Employee" means an individual who is a driver or  operator  of  a
  motor  vehicle  which  has a registered maximum gross weight of eighteen
  thousand pounds or more and performs services for and under the  control
  and direction of an employer for wages or other remuneration.
(b) "Employer" means any registered owner of a motor vehicle which has
  a registered maximum gross weight of eighteen thousand pounds or more or
  any  person, firm, partnership, institution, corporation, or association
  that employs one or more employees as herein defined.
(c) "Retaliatory personnel action" means the discharge, suspension  or
  demotion  of  an  employee,  or  other  adverse  employment action taken
  against an employee in the terms and conditions of employment.
2. Prohibition. An employer shall not take any  retaliatory  personnel
  action  against  an employee because the employee objected to or refused
  to operate a motor vehicle which the employee reasonably believes  fails
  to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  subdivision  one, insofar as such
  subdivision concerns brakes and steering  mechanism,  paragraph  (a)  of
  subdivision  two,  paragraph a of subdivision ten, subdivision eighteen,
  eighteen-a,  twenty-five,  paragraph  (c)  of  subdivision  thirty-five,
  thirty-nine,  forty  or forty-two of section three hundred seventy-five,
  or section three hundred seventy-six or section three  hundred  eighty-a
  of  this  chapter  relating to required equipment of such vehicle or its
  proper repair.
3. Application.  The  protection  against  any  retaliatory  personnel
  action  found  in subdivision two of this section shall apply only to an
  employee who has brought the  above  mentioned  violations  of  sections
  three  hundred  seventy-five,  three  hundred  seventy-six  and/or three
  hundred eighty-a to the attention of his employer  in  writing  and  has
  afforded   such  employer  a  reasonable  opportunity  to  correct  such
  violation.
4. Violation;  remedy.  An  employee  who  has  been  subjected  to  a
  retaliatory  personnel action in violation of this section may institute
  a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction for  relief  as  set
  forth  in  subdivision  five of section seven hundred forty of the labor
  law within one year after the alleged retaliatory personnel  action  was
  taken. The commissioner or his agent may deny a registration application
  of any other person for the same vehicle where he has reasonable grounds
  to  believe that such registration will have the effect of defeating the
  purpose of this subdivision.
5. Existing rights.  Nothing  in  this  section  shall  be  deemed  to
  diminish  the  rights, privileges, or remedies of any employee under any
  collective bargaining agreement or employment contract.