PROTECTED CLASSES
No business can discriminate against people – either in hiring them
or serving them – based on any of these factors (thanks
Wikipedia!):
Race – Civil Rights Act of 1964
Color – Civil Rights Act of 1964
Religion – Civil Rights Act of 1964 . This also includes protection for
atheists and people who practice no religion.
National origin – Civil Rights Act of 1964
Age (40 and over) – Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
Sex – Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission includes
discrimination based on gender presentation and
sexual orientation as protected beneath the class of 'sex'
Pregnancy – Pregnancy Discrimination Act
Citizenship – Immigration Reform and Control Act
Familial status – Civil Rights Act of 1968 Title VIII: Housing cannot
discriminate for having children, with an exception for senior housing.
In 2015 the Supreme Court held in Obergfell v Hodges that
same sex marriage must be afforded equal protection i n
that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same -
sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal
Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution .
Disability status – Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Americ ans with
Disabilities Act of 199 0
Veteran status – Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistance
Act of 1974 and Uniformed Services Employment and
Reemployment Rights Act
Genetic information – Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act
W EEKLY EDITION JULY 27, 2016
P AGE 6
L yndon B. Johnson signs t he Civil Rights Act
of 1964. Among the guests behind him is
Martin Luther King, Jr.
George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with
Disabilities Act into law in 1990.
L yndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act
of 1968 .
