§ 11A-26. Unlawful employment practices.

(1)

It shall be unlawful for any employer to engage in any practices described below on account of the race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking of any individual or any person associated with such individual:

(a)

To fail or refuse to hire or to otherwise discriminate against any individual;

(b)

To print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated, any advertisement, statement or publication or to use an application form or to make an inquiry in connection with prospective employment which expresses a limitation, preference, specification or to otherwise discriminate against an individual on any of the grounds specified in this article, or because of any such reason to discharge an employee or to discriminate with respect to training, hire, tenure, promotion, transfer, terms, conditions, wages, benefits or privileges of employment or in any other matter related to employment;

(c)

To utilize any employment agency or company providing employees which the prospective employer knows or has reasonable cause to know discriminates against individuals on any basis prohibited by this article;

(d)

To fail or refuse to make reasonable accommodation for a disabled individual. "Reasonable accommodation" in employment shall require every employer to make necessary adaptations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability unless the employer can demonstrate that the adaptation would impose an undue hardship on the operation of its business.

(i)

Reasonable accommodation may include:

(I)

Making facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by persons with a disability; and

(II)

Job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies, the provision of readers or interpreters, and other similar actions.

(ii)

In determining whether an accommodation would impose an undue hardship on an employer, factors to be considered include:

(I)

The overall size of the employer with respect to number of employees, number and type of facilities, and size of budget;

(II)

The type of the employer's operation, including the composition and structure of the employer's work force; and

(III)

The nature and cost of the accommodation needed.

(iii)

An employer may not deny any employment opportunity to a qualified disabled employee or applicant if the basis for the denial is the need to make reasonable accommodation for the physical or mental limitations of the employee or applicant.

(e)

To limit, segregate, advertise, recruit or classify any employee or applicant for employment in any way which would deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the individual's employment opportunities or status as an employee on any basis prohibited by this article.

(2)

It shall be unlawful for any employment agency or company providing employees to engage in any of the practices described below on account of any individual's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking:

(a)

To fail or refuse to hire or refer for employment or to otherwise discriminate against any individual;

(b)

To comply with an employer's request which directly or indirectly indicates a preference or any discrimination against any individual;

(c)

To classify or to refer for employment any individual;

(d)

To print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated, a statement, advertisement or publication, to use a form of application or to make an inquiry in connection with prospective employment, which expresses directly or indirectly a limitation, specification or otherwise to discriminate against any individual.

(3)

It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization to engage in any of the practices described below on account of any individual's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking:

(a)

To exclude, to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual;

(b)

To limit, or segregate or classify its membership, or applicants for membership, or to fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise to discriminate against any member or applicant for membership or otherwise to adversely affect his or her status as an employee or as an applicant for employment;

(c)

To cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation of this article;

(d)

To fail or refuse to reasonably accommodate an individual's disability.

(4)

It shall be unlawful employment practice for any employer to discriminate against any of his or her employees or applicants for employment, for an employment agency or similar organization to discriminate against any individual, or for a labor organization to discriminate against any member or applicant for membership because he or she has opposed any practice made unlawful by this article or because he or she has testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding or hearing under this article.

(5)

Exemptions to unlawful employment practices.

(a)

Notwithstanding any other provision of this article it shall not be an unlawful employment practice:

(i)

For a school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning to hire and employ individuals of a particular religion if: such school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is, in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported, controlled or managed by a particular religion or by a particular religious corporation, association or society, or if the curriculum of such school, college, university or other educational institution of learning is directed toward the propagation of a particular religion and; the employment opportunity sought by the employee or applicant is directly or indirectly related propagating that religion.

(ii)

For an employer to hire and employ individuals, for an employment agency to classify or refer for employment any individual, for a labor organization to classify its membership or to classify or refer for employment any individual, or for an employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining programs to admit or employ any individual in any such program, on the basis of his or her religion, sex or national origin in those certain instances where religion, sex, or national origin is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise. Additionally, nothing in this article shall apply with respect to a religious organization, association, society or any not for profit institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with any religious organization from limiting its employment to persons of the same religion or from giving preference to any such person; however, that religious organization, association or society shall not restrict membership based on race, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking. Furthermore, nothing in this article relating to unlawful employment practices based on sexual orientation shall pertain to any religious organization, association, society, or any non-profit institution or organization operated, supervised or controlled by or in conjunction with a religious organization, association or society.

(iii)

For any employer to apply different standards of compensation, or different terms, conditions, benefits, privileges of employment pursuant to a bona fide, written seniority or merit system or piece-work system or a system which measures earnings by quantity provided that such difference does not discriminate because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking.

(iv)

For an employer or employment agency or representative of either to give or to act upon the results of any professionally validated ability test provided that such test, its administration or action upon the result is not designed, intended or used to discriminate because of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identitiy, gender expression, sexual orientation, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking.

(b)

Nothing contained in this article shall apply to any business or enterprise on or near an Indian Tribe reservation with respect to any publicly announced employment practice of such business or enterprise under which a preferential treatment is given to any individual because he or she is an Indian living on or near a reservation.

(c)

Nothing contained in this article shall be interpreted to require any employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee subject to this chapter to grant preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of the race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking of such individual or group on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of any race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, marital status, familial status, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or actual or perceived status as a victim of domestic violence, dating violence or stalking in any community, section or other area of the county or in the available work force in any community, section or other area of the county.

(Ord. No. 97-17, § 1, 2-25-97; Ord. No. 98-170, § 1, 12-1-98; Ord. No. 06-179, § 19, 12-5-06; Ord. No. 14-118, § 4, 12-2-14; Ord. No. 14-113, § 7, 11-5-14)