Minnesota Session Laws - 1993, Regular Session

  
    Laws of Minnesota 1993 

                        CHAPTER 277-H.F.No. 208 
           An act relating to human rights; prohibiting 
          discrimination against certain persons who have 
          physical or sensory disabilities and who use service 
          animals; clarifying certain language governing 
          transportation of disabled persons; clarifying the 
          commissioner's acceptance of charges; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 363.01, subdivisions 
          30a, 35, 41b, and by adding a subdivision; 363.03, 
          subdivisions 2, 4, and 10; and 473.144. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 363.01, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 26b.  [OVER-THE-ROAD BUS.] "Over-the-road bus" means 
a bus characterized by an elevated passenger deck located over a 
baggage compartment.  
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 363.01, 
subdivision 30a, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 30a.  [PRIVATE ENTITY.] "Private entity" means an 
entity other than a public entity service. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 363.01, 
subdivision 35, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 35.  [QUALIFIED DISABLED PERSON.] "Qualified disabled 
person" means:  
    (1) with respect to employment, a disabled person who, with 
reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions 
required of all applicants for the job in question; and 
    (2) with respect to public services, a person with a 
disability who, with or without reasonable modifications to 
rules, policies, or practices, removal of architectural, 
communications, or transportation barriers, or the provision of 
auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility 
requirements for receipt of services and for participation in 
programs and activities provided by the public entity service.  
    For the purposes of this subdivision, "disability" excludes 
any condition resulting from alcohol or drug abuse which 
prevents a person from performing the essential functions of the 
job in question or constitutes a direct threat to property or 
the safety of others.  
    If a respondent contends that the person is not a qualified 
disabled person, the burden is on the respondent to prove that 
it was reasonable to conclude the disabled person, with 
reasonable accommodation, could not have met the requirements of 
the job or that the selected person was demonstrably better able 
to perform the job. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 363.01, 
subdivision 41b, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 41b.  [STATION.] "Station" means property located 
next to a right-of-way on which intercity and commuter 
transportation is operated, which is used by the general public 
and is related to the provision of the transportation, including 
passenger platforms, designated waiting areas, ticketing areas, 
restrooms, drinking fountains, public telephones, and, if a 
public entity service providing rail transportation owns the 
property, concessions areas to the extent that the public entity 
service exercises control over the selection, design, 
construction, or alteration of the property.  Station does not 
include flag stops. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 363.03, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [REAL PROPERTY.] It is an unfair discriminatory 
practice:  
      (1) For an owner, lessee, sublessee, assignee, or managing 
agent of, or other person having the right to sell, rent or 
lease any real property, or any agent of any of these:  
      (a) to refuse to sell, rent, or lease or otherwise deny to 
or withhold from any person or group of persons any real 
property because of race, color, creed, religion, national 
origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public 
assistance, disability, or familial status; or 
      (b) to discriminate against any person or group of persons 
because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, 
marital status, status with regard to public assistance, 
disability, or familial status in the terms, conditions or 
privileges of the sale, rental or lease of any real property or 
in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection 
therewith, except that nothing in this clause shall be construed 
to prohibit the adoption of reasonable rules intended to protect 
the safety of minors in their use of the real property or any 
facilities or services furnished in connection therewith; or 
      (c) in any transaction involving real property, to print, 
circulate or post or cause to be printed, circulated, or posted 
any advertisement or sign, or use any form of application for 
the purchase, rental or lease of real property, or make any 
record or inquiry in connection with the prospective purchase, 
rental, or lease of real property which expresses, directly or 
indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination as 
to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital 
status, status with regard to public assistance, disability, or 
familial status, or any intent to make any such limitation, 
specification, or discrimination except that nothing in this 
clause shall be construed to prohibit the advertisement of a 
dwelling unit as available to adults-only if the person placing 
the advertisement reasonably believes that the provisions of 
this subdivision prohibiting discrimination because of familial 
status do not apply to the dwelling unit.  
      (2) For a real estate broker, real estate salesperson, or 
employee, or agent thereof:  
      (a) to refuse to sell, rent, or lease or to offer for sale, 
rental, or lease any real property to any person or group of 
persons or to negotiate for the sale, rental, or lease of any 
real property to any person or group of persons because of race, 
color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, 
status with regard to public assistance, disability, or familial 
status or represent that real property is not available for 
inspection, sale, rental, or lease when in fact it is so 
available, or otherwise deny or withhold any real property or 
any facilities of real property to or from any person or group 
of persons because of race, color, creed, religion, national 
origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public 
assistance, disability, or familial status; or 
      (b) to discriminate against any person because of race, 
color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, 
status with regard to public assistance, disability, or familial 
status in the terms, conditions or privileges of the sale, 
rental or lease of real property or in the furnishing of 
facilities or services in connection therewith; or 
      (c) to print, circulate, or post or cause to be printed, 
circulated, or posted any advertisement or sign, or use any form 
of application for the purchase, rental, or lease of any real 
property or make any record or inquiry in connection with the 
prospective purchase, rental or lease of any real property, 
which expresses directly or indirectly, any limitation, 
specification or discrimination as to race, color, creed, 
religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with 
regard to public assistance, disability, or familial status or 
any intent to make any such limitation, specification, or 
discrimination except that nothing in this clause shall be 
construed to prohibit the advertisement of a dwelling unit as 
available to adults-only if the person placing the advertisement 
reasonably believes that the provisions of this subdivision 
prohibiting discrimination because of familial status do not 
apply to the dwelling unit.  
      (3) For a person, bank, banking organization, mortgage 
company, insurance company, or other financial institution or 
lender to whom application is made for financial assistance for 
the purchase, lease, acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, 
repair or maintenance of any real property or any agent or 
employee thereof:  
      (a) to discriminate against any person or group of persons 
because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, 
marital status, status with regard to public assistance, 
disability, or familial status of the person or group of persons 
or of the prospective occupants or tenants of the real property 
in the granting, withholding, extending, modifying or renewing, 
or in the rates, terms, conditions, or privileges of the 
financial assistance or in the extension of services in 
connection therewith; or 
      (b) to use any form of application for the financial 
assistance or make any record or inquiry in connection with 
applications for the financial assistance which expresses, 
directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification, or 
discrimination as to race, color, creed, religion, national 
origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public 
assistance, disability, or familial status or any intent to make 
any such limitation, specification, or discrimination; or 
      (c) to discriminate against any person or group of persons 
who desire to purchase, lease, acquire, construct, rehabilitate, 
repair, or maintain real property in a specific urban or rural 
area or any part thereof solely because of the social, economic, 
or environmental conditions of the area in the granting, 
withholding, extending, modifying, or renewing, or in the rates, 
terms, conditions, or privileges of the financial assistance or 
in the extension of services in connection therewith.  
    (4) For any real estate broker or real estate salesperson, 
for the purpose of inducing a real property transaction from 
which the person, the person's firm, or any of its members may 
benefit financially, to represent that a change has occurred or 
will or may occur in the composition with respect to race, 
creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, status with 
regard to public assistance, or disability of the owners or 
occupants in the block, neighborhood, or area in which the real 
property is located, and to represent, directly or indirectly, 
that this change will or may result in undesirable consequences 
in the block, neighborhood, or area in which the real property 
is located, including but not limited to the lowering of 
property values, an increase in criminal or antisocial behavior, 
or a decline in the quality of schools or other public 
facilities.  
    (5) For a person to deny a totally or partially blind, 
physically handicapped, or deaf person with a service animal 
full and equal access to real property provided for in this 
section to a person who is totally or partially blind, deaf, or 
has a physical or sensory disability and who uses a service 
animal, if the service animal can be properly identified as 
being from a recognized program which trains service animals to 
aid persons who are totally or partially blind or deaf or have 
physical or sensory disabilities.  The person may not be 
required to pay extra compensation for the service animal but is 
liable for damage done to the premises by the service animal.  
      (6) For a person to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or 
interfere with a person in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on 
account of that person having exercised or enjoyed, or on 
account of that person having aided or encouraged a third person 
in the exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected 
by this subdivision.  
      Notwithstanding the provisions of any law, ordinance, or 
home rule charter to the contrary, no person shall be deemed to 
have committed an unfair discriminatory practice based upon age 
if the unfair discriminatory practice alleged is attempted or 
accomplished for the purpose of obtaining or maintaining one of 
the exemptions provided for a dwelling unit provided for in 
section 363.02, subdivision 2.  
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 363.03, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [PUBLIC SERVICES.] It is an unfair discriminatory 
practice: 
     (1) To discriminate against any person in the access to, 
admission to, full utilization of or benefit from any public 
service because of race, color, creed, religion, national 
origin, disability, sex or status with regard to public 
assistance or to fail to ensure physical and program access for 
disabled persons unless the public service can demonstrate that 
providing the access would impose an undue hardship on its 
operation.  In determining whether providing physical and 
program access would impose an undue hardship, factors to be 
considered include:  
     (a) the type and purpose of the public service's operation; 
     (b) the nature and cost of the needed accommodation; 
     (c) documented good faith efforts to explore less 
restrictive or less expensive alternatives; and 
     (d) the extent of consultation with knowledgeable disabled 
persons and organizations.  
     Physical and program access must be accomplished within six 
months of June 7, 1983, except for needed architectural 
modifications, which must be made within two years of June 7, 
1983.  
    (2) For public transit services to discriminate in the 
access to, full utilization of, or benefit from service because 
of a person's disability.  Public transit services may use any 
of a variety of methods to provide transportation for disabled 
people, provided that persons who are disabled are offered 
transportation that, in relation to the transportation offered 
nondisabled persons, is:  
    (a) in a similar geographic area of operation.  To the 
extent that the transportation provided disabled people is not 
provided in the same geographic area of operation as that 
provided nondisabled people, priority must be given to those 
areas which contain the largest percent of disabled riders.  A 
public transit service may not fail to provide transportation to 
disabled persons in a geographic area for which it provides 
service to nondisabled persons if doing so will exclude a 
sizable portion of the disabled ridership; 
    (b) during similar hours of operation; 
    (c) for comparable fares; 
    (d) with similar or no restrictions as to trip purpose; and 
    (e) with reasonable response time.  
    Public transit services must meet these five criteria for 
the provision of transit services within three years of June 7, 
1983.  
    (3) For a public entity service that operates a fixed route 
system to: 
    (a) purchase or lease a new bus or vehicle for use on the 
system if the bus or vehicle is not readily accessible to and 
usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals 
who use wheelchairs; 
    (b) purchase or lease a used bus or vehicle for use on its 
system unless the entity public service makes a demonstrated 
good faith effort to purchase or lease a used bus or vehicle for 
use on the system that is accessible to and usable by 
individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use 
wheelchairs; or 
    (c) purchase or lease remanufactured buses or vehicles, or 
to remanufacture buses or vehicles for use on its system, if the 
bus or vehicle has been remanufactured to extend its usable life 
by five years or more, unless after the remanufacture, the bus 
or vehicle is, to the maximum extent feasible, readily 
accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, including 
individuals who use wheelchairs.  If a public entity service 
operates a fixed route system, any segment of which is included 
on the national or state register of historic places, and if 
making a vehicle of historic character to be used solely on that 
segment readily accessible to and usable by individuals with 
disabilities would significantly alter the historic character of 
the vehicle, the entity public service shall make whatever 
modifications are possible while retaining the historic 
character of the vehicle. 
    (4) For a public entity service operating a demand 
responsive system to purchase or lease new, used, or 
remanufactured vehicles that are not readily accessible to and 
usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals 
who use wheelchairs, unless the system, when viewed in its 
entirety, provides a level of service to such individuals 
equivalent to the level of service provided to individuals 
without disabilities who use the fixed route system or demand 
responsive system, or for a light or rapid rail public 
transportation system offering intercity or commuter rail 
services to purchase or lease new, used, or remanufactured 
railroad cars, including single- and bi-level dining cars, 
sleeping cars, coach cars, lounge cars, restroom cars, and food 
service cars, unless all the cars, to the maximum extent 
feasible, are readily accessible to and usable by individuals 
with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs. 
    With respect to the remanufacture of a vehicle or railroad 
car which is to be used on a segment of a light or rapid rail 
system which is included on the state or national register of 
historic places, if making the vehicle readily accessible to and 
usable by individuals with disabilities would significantly 
alter the historic character of the vehicle, the public entity 
service that operates the system only has to make, or purchase 
or lease a remanufactured vehicle with, those modifications that 
do not significantly alter the historic character of the vehicle.
    (5) To construct a new facility or station to be used in 
the provision of public transportation services, including 
intercity and commuter light and rapid rail transportation, 
unless the facility or station is readily accessible to and 
usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals 
who use wheelchairs, or for a facility or station currently used 
for the provision of public transportation services covered by 
this clause, to fail to make alterations necessary in order, to 
the maximum extent feasible, to make the altered portions of the 
facilities or stations, including restrooms, passenger platforms 
and waiting or ticketing areas, publicly owned concessions 
areas, and drinking fountains and public telephones, accessible 
to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including 
individuals who use wheelchairs.  
    If a public entity service can demonstrate that the 
provision of paratransit and other transportation services 
otherwise required under this subdivision would impose an undue 
financial burden on the public entity service, the public entity 
service is only required to provide services to the extent that 
providing those services would not impose such a burden. 
    Nothing in this subdivision may be construed to prevent a 
public entity service from providing paratransit services or 
other special transportation services at a level greater than 
that required by this subdivision, providing additional 
paratransit services to those required under this subdivision or 
extending those services to additional individuals not covered 
under this subdivision. 
     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 363.03, 
subdivision 10, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 10.  [DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BLIND, HANDICAPPED, OR 
DEAF, OR OTHER PERSONS WITH PHYSICAL OR SENSORY DISABILITIES 
PROHIBITED.] (a) It is an unfair discriminatory practice for an 
owner, operator or manager of a hotel, restaurant, public 
conveyance or other public place, to prohibit a blind, 
physically handicapped, or deaf person or a person with a 
physical or sensory disability from taking a service animal into 
the public place or conveyance if the service animal can be 
properly identified as being from a recognized school for seeing 
eye, hearing ear, service, or guide animals program which trains 
service animals to aid blind or deaf persons or persons with 
physical or sensory disabilities, and if the animal is properly 
harnessed or leashed so that the blind, physically handicapped, 
or deaf person or a person with a physical or sensory disability 
may maintain control of the animal.  
    (b) No person shall require a blind, physically 
handicapped, or deaf person to make an extra payment or pay an 
additional charge when taking a service animal into any of the 
public places referred to in paragraph (a). 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 473.144, is 
amended to read: 
    473.144 [CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE FOR CONTRACTS.] 
    Neither the council nor an agency listed in section 
473.143, subdivision 1, may accept any bid or proposal for a 
contract or execute a contract for goods or services in excess 
of $50,000 with any business having more than 20 full-time 
employees in Minnesota on a single working day during the 
previous 12 months, unless the business has an affirmative 
action plan for the employment of minority persons, women, and 
the disabled that has been approved by the commissioner of human 
rights.  Receipt of a certificate of compliance from the 
commissioner of human rights signifies that a business has an 
approved affirmative action plan.  A certificate is valid for 
two years.  Section 363.073 governs revocation of certificates.  
The rules adopted by the commissioner of human rights under 
section 363.074 apply to this section. 
    Sec. 9.  [APPLICATION.] 
    Section 8 applies in the counties of Anoka, Carver, Dakota, 
Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington. 
    Presented to the governor May 15, 1993 
    Signed by the governor May 19, 1993, 10:27 a.m.