[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the City of
Hyattsville by HO 2013-04. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This ordinance shall be referred to as the Hyattsville Human
Rights Act.
It is the intent of the City Council, in enacting the Hyattsville
Human Rights Act, to protect and safeguard the right and opportunity
of all persons to be free from all forms of discrimination, including
discrimination based on age, race, color, creed, religion, national
origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, sex, sexual orientation,
gender identity or physical characteristic.
With respect to an individual: a physical or mental impairment;
a record of such impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment.
Any act, policy, advertisement or practice which subjects
any person to differential treatment as a result of that person's
actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, national origin,
ancestry, disability, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation,
gender identity or physical characteristic. Discrimination also includes
any differential treatment because of one's association with
a person or group of people identified herein.
Any individual employed or seeking employment from an employer;
Any person who, for compensation, regularly employs individuals,
not including the employer's parents, spouse or children. For
purposes of the Hyattsville Human Rights Act an "employer" is also
any person acting on behalf of an employer, directly or indirectly,
or any employment agency.
A person's gender-related self-identity, appearance,
expression or behavior, regardless of the person's assigned sex
at birth.
Any natural person, firm, corporation, partnership or other
organization, association or group of persons however arranged;
A bodily condition or bodily characteristic of any person
which is from birth, accident, or disease, or from any natural physical
development, or any other event outside the control of that person
including individual physical mannerisms, height, or weight.
All establishments within Hyattsville which offer goods,
services, accommodations, or entertainment to the public.
A person's actual or perceived heterosexuality, homosexuality,
asexuality, or bisexuality.
With regard to employment, it shall be unlawful for any employers
or labor organizations to engage in any of the following acts for
a discriminatory reason:
A.
To discriminate against any individual, with respect to failure to
hire, refusal to hire, discharge, compensation, terms, conditions,
or privileges of employment, including promotion; however nothing
in this subsection shall be construed to require any employer to provide
benefits, such as insurance, to individuals not employed by the employer;
B.
To limit, segregate, or classify employees in any way which would
deprive or tend to deprive any employee of employment opportunities,
or which would otherwise tend to adversely affect his or her status
as an employee; or
C.
To fail or refuse to refer for employment, or to give negative information
to a potential employer of any individual, in such a manner that would
deprive or limit an individual's employment opportunities or
that would otherwise adversely affect an individual's status
as an applicant or prospective employee.
With regard to housing and real estate transactions, it shall
be unlawful to engage in any of the following acts for a discriminatory
reason:
A.
To discriminate by impeding, delaying, discouraging, imposing different
terms, or otherwise limiting or restricting any transaction in real
estate;
B.
To discriminate in the terms and conditions, or in performing, or
refusing to perform, any act necessary to determining an individual's
financial ability to engage in a real estate transaction or to represent
falsely that an interest in real estate is not available for transaction;
C.
For a property manager to discriminate by refusing to provide equal
treatment of, or services to, occupants or potential occupants of
any real estate which he or she manages; or
D.
It shall not be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an owner,
lessor or renter to refuse to rent, lease or sublease a portion of
a single-family dwelling unit where it is anticipated that the owner,
lessor or renter will be occupying any portion of the single-family
dwelling.
It shall be unlawful for a business establishment or place of
public accommodation to deny, directly or indirectly, any person the
full enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages
and accommodations for a discriminatory reason.
Every employer, business, or institution subject to the Hyattsville
Human Rights Act shall post and keep posted in a conspicuous location
where business or activity is customarily conducted or negotiated,
a notice setting forth excerpts from or summaries of the pertinent
provisions of the Hyattsville Human Rights Act and information pertinent
to the enforcement of rights hereunder. The notice shall be posted
in both English and Spanish. If over 10% of an employer's employees
speak a language other than English or Spanish as their native language,
the notice shall be posted in that language. At the request of the
employer or institution, notices required by this section shall be
provided by the City. Notices shall be posted within 10 days after
receipt from the City.
A.
It shall not be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer
to observe the conditions of a bona fide seniority system or a bona
fide employee benefit system based on age such as a retirement, pension
or insurance plan which is not a subterfuge or pretext to evade the
purposes of the Hyattsville Human Rights Act.
B.
Nothing contained in the Hyattsville Human Rights Act shall be deemed
to prohibit selection or rejection based solely upon a bona fide occupational
qualification, a bona fide physical requirement, or, as to a religious
or denominational institution, based upon a preference for applicants
of the same religion or denomination.
Any person who is aggrieved by discriminatory conduct is encouraged
to file a complaint with the Prince George's County Human Relations
Commission and also with the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights under
Title 20 of the State Government Article of the Maryland Annotated
Code. Upon such complaint being filed, an aggrieved person may avail
himself or herself of the remedies in the above quoted Article including,
pursuant to §§ 20-1013 and 20-1035, the right to file
an action in the Circuit Court against the Respondents named in the
complaint.
