(The Center Square) — New York business leaders are slamming Mayor Zohran Mamdani's proposal to give workers and consumers new rights to sue companies over abusive and unfair labor practices.

The People and Organizations Winning Economic Relief Act, rolled out by the Mamdani administration this week, would create a private "right of action" under New York City consumer protection law, allowing individuals and organizations to file lawsuits alleging unfair, deceptive, abusive or unlawful business practices rather than relying on the city government to take up their case.

"New York City is a working-class city. Yet for far too long we’ve trailed the country when it comes to giving working people the power to take on corporations that violate their rights and try to cheat them," Mamdani said in remarks unveiling the proposal.

But the plan drew swift pushback from New York business groups, who warned that the measure could drive up costs and expose small employers to costly litigation.

“The Mayor is wrong on this, and New York City’s businesses are not the enemy,” Steven Fulop, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, said in a statement. "They employ millions of New Yorkers, sustain our neighborhoods, and generate the jobs and economic activity that make this city work. This proposal would make it more expensive to operate, invest, hire, and grow in New York — exactly the wrong direction for our city."

He said the proposal will lead to higher costs for New Yorkers by inviting costly litigation against businesses in a state that is consistently labeled as one of the nation's top "judicial hellholes" over frivolous litigation in the court system.

"Those costs do not disappear — they ultimately show up in fewer jobs, less investment, and higher prices," Fulop said in his statement. "This proposal should not move forward."

Tom Stebbins, Executive Director of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York, said while "well intended" Mamdani's proposal "incentivizes abusive litigation practices" through its "broad private right of action."

"Sleazy billboard lawyers salivate over legislation like this. They’ll have license to shake down every small business on the block with demand letters and extortionate settlements," Stebbins said. "New Yorkers already pay more for everything due to the state's hostile litigation climate. This proposal will make life even more expensive and decimate our neighborhood shops and restaurants."

"A true affordability agenda should focus on fixing New York's out-of-control liability laws, not unleashing a flood of lawsuits that will make wealthy trial lawyers even richer while the rest of us pay more for everything," he added.

Jessica Walker, president and CEO of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, said businesses support efforts to crack down on bad actors, but said Mamdani's proposal "isn’t a tool aimed at predatory corporations. It’s an opening for lawsuit mills.

"The easiest targets will be small, family-owned and immigrant-owned businesses that can’t afford a lawyer and will settle just to make the case go away," she said in a statement. "California learned this the hard way: law firms sued thousands of nail salons, auto shops and restaurants over technicalities until voters had to rein the law in."