Discrimination

Types of Discrimination

• Race and Color
• Religion
• National Origin/Ancestry
• Sex/Sexual Harassment
• Disability
• Age
• Familial Status
• Other Types and Terms:
  1. Retaliation Protection
  2. Covered Individuals
  3. Protected Activity
  4. Association Discrimination
  5. Terms, Conditions, and Privileges

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

Race and Color Discrimination

The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) protects individuals against discrimination on the bases of race and color. The Act applies to employers with six or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies, “temp services,” labor organizations, landlords, housing providers, property managers, those selling houses, realtors and those providing loans for dwellings. The Act also covers all businesses that offer their goods and services to the general public, including state and local governments and therefore, those entities cannot refuse, withhold, or deny accommodations, advantages, facilities, or privileges to any person based on their race or color.

Equal employment opportunity, fair housing opportunity, and public accommodations cannot be denied to any person because of his/her racial group or perceived racial group, his/her race-linked characteristics (e.g., hair texture, color, facial features), or because of his/her marriage to or association with someone of a particular race or color.

Employers, housing providers, and places of public accommodations should adopt "best practices" to reduce the likelihood of discrimination and to address impediments to equal employment opportunity, fair housing, and public accommodations. Job requirements must be uniformly and consistently applied to persons of all races and colors. Similarly, rental and tenancy requirements must be uniformly and consistently applied to persons of all races and colors. Businesses should offer their goods and services without regard to the race or color of their customers.

• Harassment/Hostile Environment
  

  The Act prohibits offensive conduct, such as racial or ethnic slurs, racial "jokes," derogatory comments, or other verbal or physical conduct based on an individual's race/color. Harassment or creating a hostile environment would mean the conduct is unwelcome and offensive, and has to be severe or pervasive. Employers, housing providers, and places of public accommodations are required to take appropriate steps to prevent and correct unlawful harassment and discrimination. Likewise, employees, tenants, and customers are responsible for reporting harassment and discrimination at an early stage to prevent its escalation.

• Terms, Conditions, and Privileges
  

  The Act prohibits discrimination in compensation and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Thus, race or color discrimination may not be the basis for differences in pay or benefits, work assignments, performance evaluations, training, discipline or discharge, or any other area of employment. Likewise, the Act prohibits harassment and discrimination in the terms, conditions, and privileges of housing. Therefore, race or color may not be the basis for differences in rent charged or the sale price of a house, the terms of housing loans, lease requirements, or rules of tenancy. The Act also prohibits harassment and discrimination in places of public accommodations. Thus, race or color cannot be used as a basis for denying goods or services or for applying different terms or conditions on the provision of goods or services including local and state governments.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Discrimination Due to Religion

The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion in hiring, firing, and other terms and conditions of employment. It also prohibits landlords and housing providers from discriminating against individuals due to their religion in the rental or sale of housing or the terms, conditions or privileges of tenancy. The Act prohibits lenders from discriminating against individuals due to their religion by providing less favorable terms for loans for housing. The Act applies to employers with six or more employees, including state and local governments, but does not include corporations and associations owned and operated by religious or sectarian groups. The Act applies to employment agencies, “temp services”, and labor organizations. It also applies to landlords, housing providers, property managers, those selling houses, realtors, and those providing loans for dwellings. The Act covers all businesses that offer their goods and services to the general public including local and state governments, and therefore, such entities cannot refuse, withhold from or deny accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges to any person based on their religion.

Under The Act:

• Employers, housing providers, and businesses may not treat employees, applicants, tenants or customers more or less favorably because of their religious beliefs or practices. For example, an employer may not refuse to hire individuals of a certain religion, may not impose stricter promotion requirements for persons of a certain religion, and may not impose more or different work requirements on an employee because of that employee's religious beliefs or practices.
  
• Employees cannot be forced to participate -- or not participate -- in a religious activity as a condition of employment.
  
• Employers must reasonably accommodate employees’ sincerely held religious practices unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer. A reasonable religious accommodation is any adjustment to the work environment that will allow the employee to practice his religion. An employer might accommodate an employee's religious beliefs or practices by allowing flexible scheduling, voluntary substitutions or swaps of shifts, job reassignments, lateral transfers, modification of grooming requirements, and other workplace practices, policies, and/or procedures.
  
• An employer is not required to accommodate an employee's religious beliefs and practices if doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer’s legitimate business interests. An employer can show undue hardship if accommodating an employee's religious practices requires more than ordinary administrative costs, diminishes efficiency in other jobs, infringes on other employees’ job rights or benefits, impairs workplace safety, causes co-workers to carry the accommodated employee's share of potentially hazardous or burdensome work, or if the proposed accommodation conflicts with another law or regulation.
  
• Employers must permit employees to engage in religious expression, unless the religious expression would impose an undue hardship on the employer. Generally, an employer may not place more restrictions on religious expression than on other forms of expression that have a comparable effect on workplace efficiency.
  
• Employers must take steps to prevent religious harassment and discrimination of their employees. An employer can reduce the chance that employees will engage unlawful religious harassment and discrimination by implementing an anti-harassment policy and having an effective procedure for reporting, investigating, and correcting harassing and discriminatory conduct.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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National Origin/Ancestry Discrimination

The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) protects individuals from being discriminated against based on their national origin and/or ancestry. Whatever an employee or job applicant's ancestry is, he/she is entitled to the same employment opportunities as anyone else. The Act applies to employers with six or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies, “temp services”, and to labor organizations as well as landlords, housing providers, property managers, those selling houses, realtors and those providing loans for dwellings. The Act also covers all businesses that offer their goods and services to the general public including local and state governments, and therefore those entities cannot refuse, withhold from or deny accommodations, advantages, facilities, and/or privileges to any person based on their national origin or ancestry.

National origin/ancestry discrimination means treating someone less favorably because he/she comes from a particular place, because of his/her ethnicity or accent, or because it is believed that he/she has a particular ethnic background. National origin/ancestry discrimination also means treating someone less favorably because of marriage or other association with someone of a particular nationality or ethnicity.

The Act prohibits:

• Any employment decision, including recruitment, hiring, and firing or layoffs, based on national origin or ancestry.
• Any housing decision, including, rental, sale, lending, or eviction, based on national origin or ancestry.
• Any decision regarding provision of goods or services by a place of public accommodations, including entry, provision of goods or services, or the terms and conditions of goods and services, based on national origin or ancestry.
• Offensive conduct, such as ethnic slurs, that creates a hostile environment based on national origin or ancestry. Employers, housing providers and places of public accommodations are required to take appropriate steps to prevent and correct unlawful harassment and discrimination. Likewise, employees, tenants, and customers are responsible for reporting harassment and discrimination at an early stage to prevent its escalation.

Discrimination against individuals in the state of Missouri based on their national origin or ancestry, regardless of citizenship, is prohibited. However, relief may be limited if an individual is not in the country legally.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Sex: Discrimination & Harassment

The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) protects individuals against discrimination on the basis of their sex. The Act applies to employers with six or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies, “temp services”, and to labor organizations. The Act applies to landlords, housing providers, property managers, those selling houses, realtors and those providing loans for dwellings. The Act also covers all businesses that offer their goods and services to the general public including state and local governments, and therefore, those entities cannot refuse, withhold from or deny accommodations, advantages, facilities, and/or privileges to any person based on their sex.

It is unlawful to discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of his/her sex in regard to hiring, termination, promotion, compensation, job training, or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment. It is unlawful for housing providers, property managers or lenders to discriminate against any tenant, applicant for housing or applicant for a housing loan because of his/her sex in regard to the sale or rental of a dwelling, application for a housing loan, eviction, or any term or condition of tenancy. The Act's prohibitions against sex-based discrimination also cover:

Pregnancy-based Discrimination
This includes discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.

Compensation Discrimination
This includes all payments made to or on behalf of employees as compensation for employment. All forms of compensation are covered, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits.

Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination based on sexually explicit behavior. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:

1. Submission to such conduct is made a term or condition of an individual's employment ("If you want to continue working here... ");
2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis of employment decisions affecting such individual ("If you want that promotion..."); or

3. Such conduct creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment. This is where the sexual conduct is so pervasive or severe that it creates an abusive working environment.

Gender Based Harassment
Another type of sexual harassment is called gender-based harassment. It does not involve explicit sexual behavior. This type of harassment includes epithets, slurs, and negative stereotyping of men or women, directed at a female or male employee. It may include denigrating or hostile written material about the employee posted or circulated in the workplace. Harassment due to gender is comparable to harassment due to race. If it is severe or pervasive enough to create an abusive working environment, then it can violate the law.

If you believe that you’ve been discriminated against based on your sex or sexually harassed, you file a complaint of discrimination.

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Disability Discrimination

The Act covers employers with six or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies, “temp services", and to labor organizations. The Act applies to landlords, housing providers, property managers, those selling houses, realtors or those providing loans for dwellings. The Act also covers all businesses that offer their goods and services to the general public. This includes schools and state and local governments.

An employee or applicant with a disability is an individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the job in question. Reasonable accommodation may include, but is not limited to:

• Making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities;
• Job restructuring, modifying work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position; or
• Acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies, and providing qualified readers or interpreters.

An employer is required to make a reasonable accommodation to the known disability of an applicant or employee if it would not impose an "undue hardship" on the operation of the employer's business. Undue hardship is one that imposes significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as the employer's size, financial resources, and the nature and structure of its operation.

An employer is not required to lower quality or production standards to make an accommodation. An employer also is not obligated to provide personal-use items such as glasses or hearing aids.

Housing providers and landlords are required to allow tenants with disabilities to make reasonable modifications to their dwellings or common-use areas, at the expense of the person with the disability, if necessary for the person with the disability to use the housing. Those individuals are also required to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services if necessary for the person with the disability to use the housing.

A place of public accommodation is required to remove architectural and structural barriers where such removal is readily achievable, i.e., easily accomplished and without too much difficulty or expense. Examples of steps to remove barriers include, but are not limited to:

(1) Installing ramps;
(2) Making curb cuts in sidewalks and entrances;
(3) Repositioning shelves;
(4) Rearranging tables, chairs, vending machines, display racks, and other furniture;
(5) Repositioning telephones;
(6) Adding raised markings on elevator-control buttons;
(7) Installing flashing alarm lights;
(8) Widening doors;
(9) Installing offset hinges to widen doorways;
(10) Eliminating a turnstile or providing an alternative accessible path;
(11) Installing accessible door hardware;
(12) Installing grab bars in toilet stalls;
(13) Rearranging toilet partitions to increase maneuvering space;
(14) Insulating lavatory pipes under sinks to prevent burns;
(15) Installing a raised toilet seat;
(16) Installing a full-length bathroom mirror;
(17) Repositioning the paper towel dispenser in a bathroom;
(18) Creating designated accessible parking spaces;
(19) Installing an accessible paper cup dispenser at an existing inaccessible water fountain;
(20) Removing high pile, low density carpeting; or
(21) Installing vehicle hand controls.
Architects, developers, construction companies, and housing providers are required to design and construct covered multi-family dwellings after March 13, 1991, in such a manner that:

(a) The public use and common-use portions of such dwellings are readily accessible to and usable by persons with a disability;
(b) All the doors designed to allow passage into and within all premises of such dwellings are sufficiently wide to allow passage by persons with a disability in wheelchairs; and
(c) All premises within such dwellings contain the following features of adaptive design:

a. An accessible route into and through the dwelling;
b. Light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations;
c. Reinforcements in bathroom walls to allow later installation of grab bars; and
d. Usable kitchens and bathrooms such that an individual in a wheelchair can maneuver about the space.

Landlords and housing providers are required to permit, at the expense of the person with the disability, reasonable modifications of existing premises occupied or to be occupied by such person if such modifications may be necessary to afford such person full enjoyment of the premises, except that, in the case of a rental, the landlord may condition permission for a modification on the renter's agreeing to restore the interior of the premises to the condition that existed before the modification, reasonable wear and tear excepted. Landlords and housing providers also are required to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Age Discrimination

The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) protects individuals who are 40 or more years of age but less than 70 years of age from employment discrimination based on the individual's age. The Act’s protections apply to both employees and job applicants. Under the Act, it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his/her age with respect to any term, condition, or privilege of employment, including hiring, firing, promotion, layoff, compensation, benefits, job assignments, and training.

The Act applies to employers with six or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies, "temp services", and labor organizations. The Act ’s protections include:

Job Notices and Advertisements
The Act generally makes it unlawful to include age preferences, limitations, or specifications in job notices or advertisements. A job notice or advertisement may specify an age limit only in the rare circumstance where age is shown to be a "bona fide occupational qualification" (BFOQ), that is, it is reasonably necessary to the normal operation of the business.

Pre-Employment Inquiries
The Act does not specifically prohibit an employer from asking an applicant's age or date of birth. However, because such inquiries may deter older workers from applying for employment or may otherwise indicate possible intent to discriminate based on age, requests for age information will be closely scrutinized to make sure that the inquiry was made for a lawful purpose, rather than for a purpose prohibited by the Act.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Familial Status Discrimination

The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) protects individuals against discrimination on the basis of their familial status, which means one or more individuals (who have not attained the age of 18 years) living with a parent or another person having legal custody of such individual or individuals; or the designee of such parent or other person having such custody, with the written permission of such parent or other person.

The protections afforded against discrimination on the basis of familial status shall apply to any person who is pregnant or is in the process of securing legal custody of any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years.

The Act applies to landlords, housing providers, property managers, those selling houses, realtors, and those providing loans for dwellings. It is unlawful for landlords, housing providers, property managers or lenders to discriminate against any tenant, applicant for housing or applicant for a housing loan because of his/ her familial status in regard to the sale or rental of a dwelling, application for a housing loan, eviction, or any term or condition of tenancy.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Retaliation Protection

An employer may not fire, demote, harass or otherwise "retaliate" against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in a discrimination proceeding, or otherwise opposing discrimination. Likewise, landlords, housing providers, property managers, and lenders may not evict, raise the rent, deny services or otherwise retaliate against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in a discrimination proceeding, or otherwise opposing discrimination. A place of public accommodations also may not deny goods and services to or otherwise discriminate against an individual for filing a charge of discrimination, participating in a discrimination proceeding, or otherwise opposing discrimination.

There are three main terms that are used to describe retaliation. Retaliation occurs when an employer, employment agency, labor organization, landlord, housing provider or lender, or place of public accommodations takes an adverse action against a covered individual because he/she engaged in a protected activity. These three terms are described below.

Examples of adverse actions include:

• Employment actions such as termination, refusal to hire, and denial of promotion;
• Other actions affecting employment such as unjustified discipline or negative evaluations, unjustified negative references, or increased workload;
• Any other action such as an assault or unfounded civil or criminal charges;
• Housing actions such as eviction, raising of rent, denial of services, including repairs;
• Denial of entry to a place of public accommodations or denial of goods and services, or increased cost of goods and services.
  
  

  Adverse actions do not include petty slights and annoyances, such as stray negative comments in an otherwise positive or neutral evaluation, "snubbing" a colleague, or negative comments that are justified by an employee's poor work performance or history.
  

  Even if the prior protected activity alleged wrongdoing by a different employer, retaliatory adverse actions are unlawful. For example, it is unlawful for a worker's current employer to retaliate against an employee for pursuing a complaint of discrimination against a former employer.
  

  Of course, employees are not excused from continuing to perform their jobs or following their company's legitimate workplace rules just because they have filed a complaint with the MCHR or opposed discrimination or participated in a proceeding.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Covered Individuals

Covered individuals are people who have filed prior complaints of discrimination, opposed unlawful discriminatory practices, participated in proceedings like investigations or hearings, or requested accommodations for a disability or religious practice. Individuals who have a close association with someone who has engaged in such protected activity also are covered individuals. For example, it is illegal to terminate an employee because his spouse filed a discrimination complaint against the employer.

Individuals who have brought attention to violations of law other than suspected illegal discrimination are NOT covered individuals for purposes of the Act. For example, "whistle blowers" who raise ethical, financial, or other concerns unrelated to discrimination are not protected by the Act.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Protected Activity

Opposition to a practice believed to be unlawful discrimination
Opposition is informing an employer that you believe that it is engaging in prohibited discrimination. Opposition is protected from retaliation as long as it is based on a reasonable, good-faith belief that the practice being opposed violates the Act, and the manner of the opposition is reasonable.

Examples of protected opposition include:

• Complaining to an employer about alleged discrimination against oneself or others;
• Threatening to file a charge of discrimination;
• Lawful picketing in opposition to discrimination; or
• Refusing to obey an order reasonably believed to be discriminatory.

Examples of activities that are NOT protected opposition include:

• Actions that interfere with job performance so as to render the employee ineffective; or
• Unlawful activities such as acts or threats of violence.

Participation in a discrimination proceeding.
Participation is a protected activity even if the proceeding involved claims that ultimately were found to be invalid. Examples of participation include:

• Filing a charge of discrimination;
• Cooperating with an internal investigation of alleged discriminatory practices; or
• Serving as a witness during the investigation, hearing or litigation of a discrimination complaint.

A protected activity also can include requesting a reasonable accommodation based on religion or disability

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Association Discrimination

The Missouri Human Rights Act (the Act) protects individuals against discrimination on the basis of their association with a person in a protected category. The Act applies to employers with six or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies, “temp services", and to labor organizations. It applies to landlords, housing providers, property managers, those selling houses, realtors and to those providing loans for dwellings. The Act also covers all businesses that offer their goods and services to the general public including state and local governments. Therefore businesses cannot refuse, withhold from or deny accommodations, advantages, facilities or privileges to any person based on their association with a person in a protected category.

Equal employment opportunity, fair housing opportunity, and public accommodations cannot be denied to any person because of his/her association with a person in a protected category. For example, a landlord cannot refuse to rent an apartment to a mixed-race couple. An employer cannot refuse to hire an individual who has a child with a disability out of fear that the child would raise their employee health insurance rates. An employer cannot fire an employee when it learns the employee is married to someone from another country. In all of these examples, the person’s association with someone protected by the Act was a basis for taking the adverse action.

Job requirements must be uniformly and consistently applied to individuals regardless of their association with an individual protected by the Act. Similarly, rental and tenancy requirements must be uniformly and consistently applied to individuals regardless of their association with an individual protected by the Act. Businesses should offer their goods and services without regard to the associations of their customers.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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Terms, Conditions, and Privileges

The Act prohibits discrimination in compensation and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. Thus, association discrimination may not be the basis for differences in pay or benefits, work assignments, performance evaluations, training, discipline or discharge, or any other area of employment. Likewise, the Act prohibits discrimination in the terms, conditions and privileges of housing. So, association discrimination may not be the basis for differences in rent charged or the sale price of a house, the terms of housing loans, lease requirements or rules of tenancy. The Act also prohibits discrimination in the use of places of public accommodations. Thus protected associations cannot be used as a basis for denying goods or services or for applying different terms or conditions on the provision of goods or services.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against, you can file a complaint of discrimination.

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