Text of ME LD 2142 (2024)

Printed on recycled paper 131st MAINE LEGISLATURE SECOND REGULAR SESSION-2024 Legislative Document No. 2142 H.P. 1366 House of Representatives, January 3, 2024 An Act to Correct Outdated References in and Relating to the Maine Human Rights Act Submitted by the Maine Human Rights Commission pursuant to Joint Rule 203. Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed. ROBERT B. HUNT Clerk Presented by Representative MOONEN of Portland. Page 1 - 131LR2749(01) 1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 2 Sec. 1. 5 MRSA §941, sub-§1, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 729, §4, is repealed. 3 Sec. 2. 5 MRSA §941, sub-§1, ¶C is enacted to read: 4 C. Commission Counsel. 5 Sec. 3. 5 MRSA §4572, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2021, c. 293, Pt. B, §2; c. 366, 6 §5; and c. 476, §1, is further amended to read: 7 1. Unlawful employment discrimination. It is unlawful employment discrimination, 8 in violation of this Act, except when based on a bona fide occupational qualification: 9 A. For any employer to fail or refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate against any 10 applicant for employment because of race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender 11 identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin or familial 12 status, because of the applicant's previous assertion of a claim or right under former 13 Title 39 or Title 39‑A, because of previous actions taken by the applicant that are 14 protected under Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 5‑B or because the applicant sought and 15 received an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order 16 under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another 17 state or country; or, because of those reasons, to discharge an employee or discriminate 18 with respect to hire, tenure, promotion, transfer, compensation, terms, conditions or 19 privileges of employment or any other matter directly or indirectly related to 20 employment; or, in recruiting of individuals for employment or in hiring them, to utilize 21 any employment agency that the employer knows or has reasonable cause to know 22 discriminates against individuals because of their race or color, sex, sexual orientation 23 or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin 24 or familial status, because of their previous assertion of a claim or right under former 25 Title 39 or Title 39‑A, because of previous actions that are protected under Title 26, 26 chapter 7, subchapter 5‑B or because the applicant sought and received an order of 27 protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, 28 section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country. 29 (1) This paragraph does not apply to discrimination governed by Title 39‑A, 30 section 353; 31 B. For any employment agency to fail or refuse to classify properly, refer for 32 employment or otherwise discriminate against any individual because of race or color, 33 sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, 34 ancestry, national origin or familial status, because of the individual's previous 35 assertion of a claim or right under former Title 39 or Title 39‑A, because of previous 36 actions taken by the individual that are protected under Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 37 5‑B or because the individual sought and received an order of protection under Title 38 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a 39 substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country; or to comply with 40 an employer's request for the referral of job applicants if a request indicates either 41 directly or indirectly that the employer will not afford full and equal employment 42 opportunities to individuals regardless of their race or color, sex, sexual orientation or 43 gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin or 44 familial status, because of the individual's previous assertion of a claim or right under Page 2 - 131LR2749(01) 45 former Title 39 or Title 39‑A, because of previous actions that are protected under Title 46 26, chapter 7, subchapter 5‑B or because the individual sought and received an order 47 of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, 48 section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country; 5 C. For any labor organization to exclude from apprenticeship or membership or to 6 deny full and equal membership rights to any applicant for membership because of race 7 or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, 8 religion, age, ancestry, national origin or familial status, because of the applicant's 9 previous assertion of a claim or right under former Title 39 or Title 39‑A, because of 10 previous actions taken by the applicant that are protected under Title 26, chapter 7, 11 subchapter 5‑B or because the applicant sought and received an order of protection 12 under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 13 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country; or, because 14 of those reasons, to deny a member full and equal membership rights, expel from 15 membership, penalize or otherwise discriminate with respect to hire, tenure, promotion, 16 transfer, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, representation, 17 grievances or any other matter directly or indirectly related to membership or 18 employment, whether or not authorized or required by the constitution or bylaws of 19 that labor organization or by a collective labor agreement or other contract; to fail or 20 refuse to classify properly or refer for employment or otherwise discriminate against 21 any member because of race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, 22 physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin or familial status, 23 because of the member's previous assertion of a claim or right under former Title 39 or 24 Title 39‑A, because of previous actions taken by the member that are protected under 25 Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 5‑B or because the applicant sought and received an 26 order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 27 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or 28 country; or to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an 29 individual in violation of this section, except that it is lawful for labor organizations 30 and employers to adopt a maximum age limitation in apprenticeship programs, if the 31 employer or labor organization obtains prior approval from the Maine Human Rights 32 Commission of any maximum age limitation employed in an apprenticeship program. 33 The commission shall approve the age limitation if a reasonable relationship exists 34 between the maximum age limitation employed and a legitimate expectation of the 35 employer in receiving a reasonable return upon the employer's investment in an 36 apprenticeship program. The employer or labor organization bears the burden of 37 demonstrating that such a relationship exists; 38 D. For any employer, employment agency or labor organization, prior to employment 39 or admission to membership of any individual, to: 40 (1) Elicit or attempt to elicit information directly or indirectly pertaining to race 41 or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, 42 religion, age, ancestry, national origin or familial status, any previous assertion of 43 a claim or right under former Title 39 or Title 39‑A, any previous actions that are 44 protected under Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 5‑B or any previous actions seeking 45 and receiving an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final 1 2 3 4 Page 3 - 131LR2749(01) 46 protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision 47 of the law of another state or country; 3 (2) Make or keep a record of race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender 4 identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin or 5 familial status, any previous assertion of a claim or right under former Title 39 or 6 Title 39‑A, any previous actions that are protected under Title 26, chapter 7, 7 subchapter 5‑B or any previous actions seeking and receiving an order of protection 8 under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, section 9 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country, 10 except that, in relation to physical or mental disability, when an employer requires 11 a physical or mental examination prior to employment, a privileged record of that 12 examination is permissible if made and kept in compliance with this Act; 13 (3) Use any form of application for employment, or personnel or membership 14 blank containing questions or entries directly or indirectly pertaining to race or 15 color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, 16 religion, age, ancestry, national origin or familial status, any previous assertion of 17 a claim or right under former Title 39 or Title 39‑A, any previous actions that are 18 protected under Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 5‑B or any previous actions seeking 19 and receiving an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final 20 protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision 21 of the law of another state or country. This section does not prohibit any officially 22 recognized government agency from keeping records permitted to be kept under 23 this Act in order to provide free services to individuals requesting rehabilitation or 24 employment assistance; 25 (4) Print, publish or cause to be printed or published any notice or advertisement 26 relating to employment or membership indicating any preference, limitation, 27 specification or discrimination based upon race or color, sex, sexual orientation or 28 gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national 29 origin or familial status, any previous assertion of a claim or right under former 30 Title 39 or Title 39‑A, any previous actions that are protected under Title 26, 31 chapter 7, subchapter 5‑B or any previous actions seeking and receiving an order 32 of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 33 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state 34 or country; or 35 (5) Establish, announce or follow a policy of denying or limiting, through a quota 36 system or otherwise, employment or membership opportunities of any group 37 because of the race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or 38 mental disability, religion, age, ancestry, national origin or familial status, because 39 of the previous assertion of a claim or right under former Title 39 or Title 39‑A, 40 because of previous actions that are protected under Title 26, chapter 7, subchapter 41 5‑B or because of any previous actions seeking and receiving an order of protection 42 under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, section 43 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country, of 44 that group; or 45 E. For an employer, employment agency or labor organization to discriminate in any 46 manner against individuals because they have opposed a practice that would be a 1 2 Page 4 - 131LR2749(01) 47 violation of this Act or because they have made a charge, testified or assisted in any 48 investigation, proceeding or hearing under this Act. This paragraph does not limit the 49 liability of persons pursuant to section 4633. 4 Sec. 4. 5 MRSA §4581, first ¶, as amended by PL 2021, c. 366, §7 and c. 476, §2, 5 is further amended to read: 6 The opportunity for an individual to secure housing in accordance with the individual's 7 ability to pay, and without discrimination because of race, color, sex, sexual orientation or 8 gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin or familial 9 status or because the individual has sought and received an order of protection under Title 10 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially 11 similar provision of the law of another state or country, is hereby recognized as and 12 declared to be a civil right. 13 Sec. 5. 5 MRSA §4581-A, as amended by PL 2021, c. 366, §§8 to 10 and c. 476, 14 §3, is further amended to read: 15 §4581-A. Unlawful housing discrimination 16 It is unlawful housing discrimination, in violation of this Act: 17 1. Sale or rental of housing and other prohibited practices. For any owner, lessee, 18 sublessee, managing agent or other person having the right to sell or rent or manage a 19 housing accommodation, or any agent of these, to: 20 A. Make or cause to be made any written or oral inquiry concerning the race or color, 21 sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, 22 ancestry, national origin, familial status or any previous actions seeking and receiving 23 an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under 24 Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state 25 or country of any prospective purchaser, occupant or tenant of the housing 26 accommodation; 27 B. Refuse to show or refuse to sell, rent, lease, let or otherwise deny to or withhold 28 from any person the housing accommodation because of race or color, sex, sexual 29 orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national 30 origin or familial status or because the person sought and received an order of 31 protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, 32 section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country; 33 C. Make, print or publish or cause to be made, printed or published any notice, 34 statement or advertisement relating to the sale, rental or lease of the housing 35 accommodation that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based upon 36 race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, 37 religion, ancestry, national origin, familial status or any previous actions seeking and 38 receiving an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order 39 under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another 40 state or country or an intention to make any such preference, limitation or 41 discrimination; 42 D. Discriminate against any person because of race or color, sex, sexual orientation or 43 gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin or 1 2 3 Page 5 - 131LR2749(01) 44 familial status or because the person sought and received an order of protection under 45 Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a 46 substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country in the price, terms, 47 conditions or privileges of the sale, rental or lease of any housing accommodations or 48 in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection with any housing 49 accommodations; or 7 E. Evict or attempt to evict any tenant of any housing accommodation because of the 8 race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, 9 religion, ancestry, national origin or familial status of the tenant or because the tenant 10 sought and received an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final 11 protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of 12 the law of another state or country; 13 2. Selling, brokering or appraising of housing. For any real estate broker or real 14 estate salesperson, or any agent of these, to: 15 A. Fail or refuse to show any person a housing accommodation listed for sale, lease or 16 rent because of race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or 17 mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin or familial status or because the 18 person sought and received an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a 19 final protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar 20 provision of the law of another state or country; 21 B. Misrepresent, for the purpose of discriminating because of race or color, sex, sexual 22 orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national 23 origin, familial status or any previous actions seeking and receiving an order of 24 protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, 25 section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state or country, 26 the availability or asking price of a housing accommodation listed for sale, lease or rent 27 or for such reason to fail to communicate to the person having the right to sell, rent or 28 lease the housing accommodation any offer for the same made by any applicant; 29 C. In any other manner to discriminate against any applicant for a housing 30 accommodation because of race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, 31 physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin or familial status or 32 because the applicant sought and received an order of protection under Title 19‑A, 33 section 4007 a final protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially 34 similar provision of the law of another state or country; 35 D. Make or cause to be made any written or oral inquiry or record concerning the race 36 or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, 37 religion, ancestry, national origin, familial status or any previous actions seeking and 38 receiving an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order 39 under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another 40 state or country of any applicant for or intended occupant of a housing accommodation; 41 or 42 E. Accept for listing any housing accommodation when the person having the right to 43 sell, rent or lease the housing accommodation has directly or indirectly indicated an 44 intention of discriminating among prospective tenants or purchasers on the ground of 45 race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, 1 2 3 4 5 6 Page 6 - 131LR2749(01) 46 religion, ancestry, national origin, familial status or any previous actions seeking and 47 receiving an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order 48 under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another 49 state or country, or when the broker or salesperson knows or has reason to know that 50 the person having the right to sell, rent or lease the housing accommodation has made 51 a practice of discrimination since July 1, 1972; 7 3. Making of loans; other financial assistance. For any person to whom application 8 is made for a loan or other form of financial assistance for the acquisition, construction, 9 rehabilitation, repair or maintenance of any housing accommodation, whether secured or 10 unsecured, or agent of the person, to: 11 A. Make or cause to be made any oral or written inquiry concerning the race or color, 12 sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, 13 ancestry, national origin, familial status or any previous actions seeking and receiving 14 an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a final protection order under 15 Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar provision of the law of another state 16 or country of any applicant for financial assistance or of existing or prospective 17 occupants or tenants of housing accommodations; or 18 B. Discriminate in the granting of financial assistance, or in the terms, conditions or 19 privileges relating to obtaining or the use of any financial assistance, against any 20 applicant because of race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical 21 or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin, familial status or any previous 22 actions seeking and receiving an order of protection under Title 19‑A, section 4007 a 23 final protection order under Title 19-A, section 4110 or a substantially similar 24 provision of the law of another state or country; or 25 4. Receipt of public assistance. For any person furnishing rental premises or public 26 accommodations to refuse to rent or impose different terms of tenancy to any individual 27 who is a recipient of federal, state or local public assistance, including medical assistance 28 and housing subsidies, primarily because of the individual's status as recipient. 29 Sec. 6. 5 MRSA §4596, as amended by PL 2021, c. 366, §17, is further amended to 30 read: 31 §4596. Unlawful credit extension discrimination 32 It is unlawful credit discrimination for any creditor to refuse the extension of credit to 33 any person solely on the basis of any one or more of the following factors: age; race; color; 34 sex; sexual orientation or gender identity; marital status; ancestry; religion; or national 35 origin in any credit transaction. It is not unlawful credit discrimination to comply with the 36 terms and conditions of any bona fide group credit life, accident and health insurance plan, 37 for a financial institution extending credit to a married person to require both the husband 38 and the wife spouses to sign a note and a mortgage and to deny credit to persons under 18 39 years of age or to consider a person's age in determining the terms upon which credit will 40 be extended. 41 SUMMARY 42 This bill amends the Maine Human Rights Act to correct references to orders of 43 protection under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 19-A, former section 4007, which was 1 2 3 4 5 6 42 43 Page 7 - 131LR2749(01) 44 repealed on January 1, 2023, to final protection orders under Title 19-A, section 4110. The 45 bill also provides protection from discrimination for individuals who have received 46 substantially similar orders of protection from courts in other states or countries. 4 The bill also changes a reference from "husband and wife" to "spouses" in a provision 5 of the Maine Human Rights Act that addresses fair credit extension. 6 Finally, the bill replaces the Chief Compliance Officer, a position that no longer exists, 7 with the Commission Counsel as a major policy-influencing position within the Maine 8 Human Rights Commission. 1 2 3