The way the law reads it looks like someone has to file a complaint. I doubt the NYC Commission on Human Rights has the manpower to scour the internet for violations.
Agree that investors should not tolerate illegal behavior from their portfolio companies, but realistically VCs can't manage every day-to-day detail of their portfolio. And even when they do get involved they can't always control the management -- see Uber, for example. Sometimes the VCs provide the legal cover for questionable behavior because the potential profits outweigh the potential fines and risk of enforcement by well-intentioned but ultimately toothless laws, as I suspect the NYC law will turn out.
Agree that investors should not tolerate illegal behavior from their portfolio companies, but realistically VCs can't manage every day-to-day detail of their portfolio. And even when they do get involved they can't always control the management -- see Uber, for example. Sometimes the VCs provide the legal cover for questionable behavior because the potential profits outweigh the potential fines and risk of enforcement by well-intentioned but ultimately toothless laws, as I suspect the NYC law will turn out.