c. If the superintendent finds that a violation of this section has
occurred, the superintendent shall issue an order which shall do one or
more of the following:
(1) impose a fine in an amount not to exceed ten thousand dollars for
each violation, to be paid to the people of the state of New York;
(2) award compensatory damages to the person aggrieved by such
violation;
(3) for a claim of sex discrimination only, award reasonable
attorney's fees attributable to such claim to any prevailing party;
provided, however, that a prevailing respondent or defendant in order to
recover such reasonable attorney's fees must make a motion requesting
such fees and show that the action or proceeding brought was frivolous.
In no case shall attorney's fees be awarded to the department, nor shall
the department be liable to a prevailing party for attorney's fees. In
order to find the action or proceeding to be frivolous, the
superintendent must find in writing one or more of the following:
(a) the action or proceeding was commenced, used or continued in bad
faith, solely to delay or prolong the resolution of the litigation or to
harass or maliciously injure another; or
(b) the action or proceeding was commenced or continued in bad faith
without any reasonable basis and could not be supported by a good faith
argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law. If
the action or proceeding was promptly discontinued when the party or
attorney learned or should have learned that the action or proceeding
lacked such a reasonable basis, the court may find that the party or the
attorney did not act in bad faith.
(4) require the regulated creditor to cease and desist from such
unlawful discriminatory practices;