2002 Minnesota Statutes

     363.03 Unfair discriminatory practices. 

    Subdivision 1.    Employment.  Except when based on a 
 bona fide occupational qualification, it is an unfair employment 
 practice:  

    (1) For a labor organization, because of race, color, 
 creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status 
 with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual 
 orientation, or age, 

    (a) to deny full and equal membership rights to a person 
 seeking membership or to a member; 

    (b) to expel a member from membership; 

    (c) to discriminate against a person seeking membership or 
 a member with respect to hiring, apprenticeship, tenure, 
 compensation, terms, upgrading, conditions, facilities, or 
 privileges of employment; or 

    (d) to fail to classify properly, or refer for employment 
 or otherwise to discriminate against a person or member.  

    (2) For an employer, because of race, color, creed, 
 religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status with 
 regard to public assistance, membership or activity in a local 
 commission, disability, sexual orientation, or age, 

    (a) to refuse to hire or to maintain a system of employment 
 which unreasonably excludes a person seeking employment; or 

    (b) to discharge an employee; or 

    (c) to discriminate against a person with respect to 
 hiring, tenure, compensation, terms, upgrading, conditions, 
 facilities, or privileges of employment.  

    (3) For an employment agency, because of race, color, 
 creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, status 
 with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual 
 orientation, or age, 

    (a) to refuse or fail to accept, register, classify 
 properly, or refer for employment or otherwise to discriminate 
 against a person; or 

    (b) to comply with a request from an employer for referral 
 of applicants for employment if the request indicates directly 
 or indirectly that the employer fails to comply with the 
 provisions of this chapter.  

    (4) For an employer, employment agency, or labor 
 organization, before a person is employed by an employer or 
 admitted to membership in a labor organization, to 

    (a) require or request the person to furnish information 
 that pertains to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, 
 sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, 
 disability, sexual orientation, or age; or, subject to section 
 363.02, subdivision 1, to require or request a person to undergo 
 physical examination; unless for the sole and exclusive purpose 
 of national security, information pertaining to national origin 
 is required by the United States, this state or a political 
 subdivision or agency of the United States or this state, or for 
 the sole and exclusive purpose of compliance with the Public 
 Contracts Act or any rule, regulation, or laws of the United 
 States or of this state requiring the information or 
 examination.  A law enforcement agency may, after notifying an 
 applicant for a peace officer or part-time peace officer 
 position that the law enforcement agency is commencing the 
 background investigation on the applicant, request the 
 applicant's date of birth, gender, and race on a separate form 
 for the sole and exclusive purpose of conducting a criminal 
 history check, a driver's license check, and fingerprint 
 criminal history inquiry.  The form shall include a statement 
 indicating why the data is being collected and what its limited 
 use will be.  No document which has date of birth, gender, or 
 race information will be included in the information given to or 
 available to any person who is involved in selecting the person 
 or persons employed other than the background investigator.  No 
 person may act both as background investigator and be involved 
 in the selection of an employee except that the background 
 investigator's report about background may be used in that 
 selection as long as no direct or indirect references are made 
 to the applicant's race, age, or gender; or 

    (b) seek and obtain for purposes of making a job decision, 
 information from any source that pertains to the person's race, 
 color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, 
 status with regard to public assistance, disability, sexual 
 orientation, or age, unless for the sole and exclusive purpose 
 of compliance with the Public Contracts Act or any rule, 
 regulation, or laws of the United States or of this state 
 requiring the information; or 

    (c) cause to be printed or published a notice or 
 advertisement that relates to employment or membership and 
 discloses a preference, limitation, specification, or 
 discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion, national 
 origin, sex, marital status, status with regard to public 
 assistance, disability, sexual orientation, or age.  

    Any individual who is required to provide information that 
 is prohibited by this subdivision is an aggrieved party under 
 section 363.06.  

    (5) For an employer, an employment agency, or a labor 
 organization, with respect to all employment related purposes, 
 including receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, not 
 to treat women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or 
 disabilities related to pregnancy or childbirth, the same as 
 other persons who are not so affected but who are similar in 
 their ability or inability to work, including a duty to make 
 reasonable accommodations as provided by paragraph (6).  

    (6) For an employer with a number of part-time or full-time 
 employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar 
 weeks in the current or preceding calendar year equal to or 
 greater than 25 effective July 1, 1992, and equal to or greater 
 than 15 effective July 1, 1994, an employment agency, or a labor 
 organization, not to make reasonable accommodation to the known 
 disability of a qualified disabled person or job applicant 
 unless the employer, agency, or organization can demonstrate 
 that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the 
 business, agency, or organization.  "Reasonable accommodation" 
 means steps which must be taken to accommodate the known 
 physical or mental limitations of a qualified disabled person.  
 "Reasonable accommodation" may include but is not limited to, 
 nor does it necessarily require:  (a) making facilities readily 
 accessible to and usable by disabled persons; and (b) job 
 restructuring, modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant 
 position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, 
 and the provision of aides on a temporary or periodic basis.  

    In determining whether an accommodation would impose an 
 undue hardship on the operation of a business or organization, 
 factors to be considered include:  

    (a) the overall size of the business or organization with 
 respect to number of employees or members and the number and 
 type of facilities; 

    (b) the type of the operation, including the composition 
 and structure of the work force, and the number of employees at 
 the location where the employment would occur; 

    (c) the nature and cost of the needed accommodation; 

    (d) the reasonable ability to finance the accommodation at 
 each site of business; and 

    (e) documented good faith efforts to explore less 
 restrictive or less expensive alternatives, including 
 consultation with the disabled person or with knowledgeable 
 disabled persons or organizations.  

    A prospective employer need not pay for an accommodation 
 for a job applicant if it is available from an alternative 
 source without cost to the employer or applicant.  

    Subd. 1a.    Disclosure of medical information.  If any 
 health care records or medical information adversely affects any 
 hiring, firing, or promotional decision concerning an applicant 
 or employee, the employer must notify the affected party of that 
 information within ten days of the final decision. 

    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, sexual orientation, 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, sexual orientation, 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, 
 sexual orientation, 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, sexual 
 orientation, 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, sexual orientation, 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, sexual 
 orientation, 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, sexual orientation, 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, sexual orientation, 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, sexual orientation, 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, sexual orientation, 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 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.  

    Subd. 2a.    Real property; disability discrimination.  
 (a) For purposes of subdivision 2, discrimination includes:  

    (1) a refusal to permit, at the expense of the disabled 
 person, reasonable modifications of existing premises occupied 
 or to be occupied by the disabled person if modifications may be 
 necessary to afford the disabled person full enjoyment of the 
 premises; a landlord may, where it is reasonable to do so, 
 condition permission for a modification on the renter agreeing 
 to restore the interior of the premises to the condition that 
 existed before the modification, excluding reasonable wear and 
 tear; 

    (2) a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, 
 policies, practices, or services, when accommodations may be 
 necessary to afford a disabled person equal opportunity to use 
 and enjoy a dwelling; or 

    (3) in connection with the design and construction of 
 covered multifamily dwellings for first occupancy after March 
 13, 1991, a failure to design and construct those dwellings in a 
 manner that:  

    (i) the public use and common use portions are readily 
 accessible to and usable by a disabled person; 

    (ii) all the doors designed to allow passage into and 
 within all premises are sufficiently wide to allow passage by 
 disabled persons in wheelchairs; and 

    (iii) all premises contain the following features of 
 adaptive design:  an accessible route into and through the 
 dwelling; light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and 
 other environmental controls in accessible locations; 
 reinforcements in bathroom walls to allow later installation of 
 grab bars; and usable kitchens and bathrooms so that an 
 individual in a wheelchair can maneuver about the space. 

    (b) As used in this subdivision, the term "covered 
 multifamily dwellings" means:  

    (1) a building consisting of four or more units if the 
 building has one or more elevators; and 

    (2) ground floor units in other buildings consisting of 
 four or more units.  

    (c) This subdivision does not invalidate or limit any law 
 of the state or political subdivision of the state, or other 
 jurisdiction in which this subdivision applies, that requires 
 dwellings to be designed and constructed in a manner that 
 affords disabled persons greater access than is required by this 
 subdivision.  

    (d) This subdivision does not require that a dwelling be 
 made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a 
 direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or 
 whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the 
 property of others. 

    Subd. 3.    Public accommodations.  (a) It is an unfair 
 discriminatory practice: 

    (1) to deny any person the full and equal enjoyment of the 
 goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and 
 accommodations of a place of public accommodation because of 
 race, color, creed, religion, disability, national origin, 
 marital status, sexual orientation, or sex, or for a taxicab 
 company to discriminate in the access to, full utilization of, 
 or benefit from service because of a person's disability; or 

    (2) for a place of public accommodation not to make 
 reasonable accommodation to the known physical, sensory, or 
 mental disability of a disabled person.  In determining whether 
 an accommodation is reasonable, the factors to be considered may 
 include: 

    (i) the frequency and predictability with which members of 
 the public will be served by the accommodation at that location; 

    (ii) the size of the business or organization at that 
 location with respect to physical size, annual gross revenues, 
 and the number of employees; 

    (iii) the extent to which disabled persons will be further 
 served from the accommodation; 

    (iv) the type of operation; 

    (v) the nature and amount of both direct costs and 
 legitimate indirect costs of making the accommodation and the 
 reasonableness for that location to finance the accommodation; 
 and 

    (vi) the extent to which any persons may be adversely 
 affected by the accommodation. 

    State or local building codes control where applicable.  
 Violations of state or local building codes are not violations 
 of this chapter and must be enforced under normal building code 
 procedures.  

    (b) This paragraph lists general prohibitions against 
 discrimination on the basis of disability.  For purposes of this 
 paragraph "individual" or "class of individuals" refers to the 
 clients or customers of the covered public accommodation that 
 enter into the contractual, licensing, or other arrangement. 

    (1) It is discriminatory to: 

    (i) subject an individual or class of individuals on the 
 basis of a disability of that individual or class, directly or 
 through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, to a 
 denial of the opportunity of the individual or class to 
 participate in or benefit from the goods, services, facilities, 
 privileges, advantages, or accommodations of an entity; 

    (ii) afford an individual or class of individuals on the 
 basis of the disability of that individual or class, directly or 
 through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, with the 
 opportunity to participate in or benefit from the goods, 
 services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations 
 that are not equal to those afforded to other individuals; and 

    (iii) provide an individual or class of individuals, on the 
 basis of a disability of that individual or class, directly or 
 through contractual, licensing, or other arrangements, with 
 goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or 
 accommodations that are different or separate from those 
 provided to other individuals, unless the action is necessary to 
 provide the individual or class of individuals with goods, 
 services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations, 
 or other opportunities that are as effective as those provided 
 to others. 

    (2) Goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, 
 and accommodations must be afforded to an individual with a 
 disability in the most integrated setting appropriate to the 
 needs of the individual. 

    (3) Notwithstanding the existence of separate or different 
 programs or activities provided in accordance with this section, 
 the individual with a disability may not be denied the 
 opportunity to participate in the programs or activities that 
 are not separate or different. 

    (4) An individual or entity may not, directly or through 
 contractual or other arrangements, use standards or criteria and 
 methods of administration: 

    (i) that have the effect of discriminating on the basis of 
 disability; or 

    (ii) that perpetuate the discrimination of others who are 
 subject to common administrative control. 

    (c) This paragraph lists specific prohibitions against 
 discrimination on the basis of disability.  For purposes of this 
 paragraph, discrimination includes: 

    (1) the imposition or application of eligibility criteria 
 that screen out or tend to screen out an individual with a 
 disability or any class of individuals with disabilities from 
 fully and equally enjoying any goods, services, facilities, 
 privileges, advantages, or accommodations, unless the criteria 
 can be shown to be necessary for the provision of the goods, 
 services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations; 

    (2) failure to make reasonable modifications in policies, 
 practices, or procedures when the modifications are necessary to 
 afford the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, 
 or accommodations to individuals with disabilities, unless the 
 entity can demonstrate that making the modifications would 
 fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, services, 
 facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations; 

    (3) failure to take all necessary steps to ensure that no 
 individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, 
 segregated, or otherwise treated differently than other 
 individuals because of the absence of auxiliary aids and 
 services, unless the entity can demonstrate that taking the 
 steps would fundamentally alter the nature of the goods, 
 services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations 
 being offered and would result in an undue burden; 

    (4) failure to remove architectural barriers, and 
 communication barriers that are structural in nature, in 
 existing facilities, and transportation barriers in existing 
 vehicles used by an establishment for transporting individuals, 
 not including barriers that can only be removed through the 
 retrofitting of vehicles by the installation of hydraulic or 
 other lifts, if the removal is readily achievable; and 

    (5) if an entity can demonstrate that the removal of a 
 barrier under clause (4) is not readily achievable or cannot be 
 considered a reasonable accommodation, a failure to make the 
 goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or 
 accommodations available through alternative means if the means 
 are readily achievable. 

    (d) Nothing in this chapter requires an entity to permit an 
 individual to participate in and benefit from the goods, 
 services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations 
 of the entity if the individual poses a direct threat to the 
 health or safety of others.  "Direct threat" means a significant 
 risk to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated 
 by a modification of policies, practices, or procedures or by 
 the provision of auxiliary aids or services. 

    (e) No individual may be discriminated against on the basis 
 of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of specified 
 public transportation services provided by a private entity that 
 is primarily engaged in the business of transporting people and 
 whose operations affect commerce.  For purposes of this 
 paragraph, it is an unfair discriminatory practice for a private 
 entity providing public transportation to engage in one or more 
 of the following practices: 

    (1) imposition or application of eligibility criteria that 
 screen out, or tend to screen out, an individual with a 
 disability or a class of individuals with disabilities from 
 fully enjoying the specified public transportation services 
 provided by the entity, unless the criteria can be shown to be 
 necessary for the provision of the services being offered; 

    (2) failure to make reasonable modifications, provide 
 auxiliary aids and services, and remove barriers, consistent 
 with section 363.03, subdivision 3, paragraph (c); 

    (3) the purchase or lease of a new vehicle, other than an 
 automobile or van with a seating capacity of fewer than eight 
 passengers, including the driver, or an over-the-road bus, that 
 is to be used to provide specified public transportation that is 
 not readily accessible to and usable by individuals with 
 disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, except 
 that a new vehicle need not be readily accessible to and usable 
 by individuals with disabilities if the vehicle is to be used 
 solely in a demand responsive system and if the private entity 
 can demonstrate that the system, when viewed in its entirety, 
 provides a level of services to individuals with disabilities 
 equivalent to the level of service provided to the general 
 public; 

    (4) purchase or lease a new railroad passenger car that is 
 to be used to provide specified public transportation if the car 
 is not readily accessible to and usable by individuals with 
 disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs, or to 
 manufacture railroad passenger cars or purchase used cars that 
 have been remanufactured so as to extend their usable life by 
 ten years or more, unless the remanufactured car, to the maximum 
 extent feasible, is made readily accessible to and usable by 
 individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use 
 wheelchairs, except that compliance with this clause is not 
 required to the extent that compliance would significantly alter 
 the historic or antiquated character of historic or antiquated 
 railroad passenger cars or rail stations served exclusively by 
 those cars; 

    (5) purchase or lease a new, used, or remanufactured 
 vehicle with a seating capacity in excess of 16 passengers, 
 including the driver, for use on a fixed route public 
 transportation system, that is not readily accessible to and 
 usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals 
 who use wheelchairs.  If a private entity that operates a fixed 
 route public transportation system purchases or leases a new, 
 used, or remanufactured vehicle with a seating capacity of 16 
 passengers or fewer, including the driver, for use on the system 
 which is not readily accessible to and usable by individuals 
 with disabilities, it is an unfair discriminatory practice for 
 the entity to fail to operate the system so that, when viewed in 
 its entirety, the system ensures a level of service to 
 individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use 
 wheelchairs, equivalent to the level of service provided to 
 individuals without disabilities; or 

    (6) to fail to operate a demand responsive system so that, 
 when viewed in its entirety, the system ensures a level of 
 service to individuals with disabilities, including individuals 
 who use wheelchairs, equivalent to the level of service provided 
 to individuals without disabilities.  It is an unfair 
 discriminatory practice for the entity to purchase or lease for 
 use on a demand responsive system a new, used, or remanufactured 
 vehicle with a seating capacity in excess of 16 passengers, 
 including the driver, that is not readily accessible to and 
 usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals 
 who use wheelchairs, unless the entity can demonstrate that the 
 system, when viewed in its entirety, provides a level of service 
 to individuals with disabilities equivalent to that provided to 
 individuals without disabilities. 

    (f) It is an unfair discriminatory practice to construct a 
 new facility or station to be used in the provision of public 
 transportation services, unless the facilities or stations are 
 readily accessible to and usable by individuals with 
 disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs.  It is 
 an unfair discriminatory practice for a facility or station 
 currently used for the provision of public transportation 
 services defined in this subdivision to fail to make alterations 
 necessary in order, to the maximum extent feasible, to make the 
 altered portions of facilities or stations readily accessible to 
 and usable by individuals with disabilities, including 
 individuals who use wheelchairs.  If the private entity is 
 undertaking an alteration that affects or could affect the 
 usability of or access to an area of the facility containing a 
 primary function, the entity shall make the alterations so that, 
 to the maximum extent feasible, the path of travel to the 
 altered area, and the bathrooms, drinking fountains, and 
 telephones serving the altered area, are readily accessible to 
 and usable by individuals with disabilities if the alterations 
 to the path of travel or to the functions mentioned are not 
 disproportionate to the overall alterations in terms of cost and 
 scope.  The entity raising this defense has the burden of proof, 
 and the department shall review these cases on a case-by-case 
 basis. 

    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, sexual orientation, 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 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 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 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 public service shall make whatever 
 modifications are possible while retaining the historic 
 character of the vehicle. 

    (4) For a public 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 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 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 service, the public 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 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. 

    Subd. 4a. Repealed, 1983 c 276 s 11 

    Subd. 5.    Educational institution.  It is an unfair 
 discriminatory practice: 

    (1) To discriminate in any manner in the full utilization 
 of or benefit from any educational institution, or the services 
 rendered thereby to any person because of race, color, creed, 
 religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, status with 
 regard to public assistance, sexual orientation, or disability, 
 or to fail to ensure physical and program access for disabled 
 persons.  For purposes of this paragraph, program access 
 includes but is not limited to providing taped texts, 
 interpreters or other methods of making orally delivered 
 materials available, readers in libraries, adapted classroom 
 equipment, and similar auxiliary aids or services.  Program 
 access does not include providing attendants, individually 
 prescribed devices, readers for personal use or study, or other 
 devices or services of a personal nature. 

    (2) To exclude, expel, or otherwise discriminate against a 
 person seeking admission as a student, or a person enrolled as a 
 student because of race, color, creed, religion, national 
 origin, sex, age, marital status, status with regard to public 
 assistance, sexual orientation, or disability. 

    (3) To make or use a written or oral inquiry, or form of 
 application for admission that elicits or attempts to elicit 
 information, or to make or keep a record, concerning the creed, 
 religion, sexual orientation, or disability of a person seeking 
 admission, except as permitted by rules of the department. 

    (4) To make or use a written or oral inquiry or form of 
 application that elicits or attempts to elicit information, or 
 to keep a record concerning the race, color, national origin, 
 sex, age, or marital status of a person seeking admission, 
 unless the information is collected for purposes of evaluating 
 the effectiveness of recruitment, admissions, and other 
 educational policies, and is maintained separately from the 
 application. 

    Subd. 6.    Aiding and abetting and obstruction.  It is 
 an unfair discriminatory practice for any person: 

    (1) Intentionally to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce a 
 person to engage in any of the practices forbidden by this 
 chapter; 

    (2) Intentionally to attempt to aid, abet, incite, compel, 
 or coerce a person to engage in any of the practices forbidden 
 by this chapter; 

    (3) To intentionally obstruct or prevent any person from 
 complying with the provisions of this chapter, or any order 
 issued thereunder, or to resist, prevent, impede, or interfere 
 with the commissioner or any of the commissioner's employees or 
 representatives in the performance of duty under this chapter. 

    Subd. 7.    Reprisals.  It is an unfair discriminatory 
 practice for any individual who participated in the alleged 
 discrimination as a perpetrator, employer, labor organization, 
 employment agency, public accommodation, public service, 
 educational institution, or owner, lessor, lessee, sublessee, 
 assignee or managing agent of any real property, or any real 
 estate broker, real estate salesperson, or employee or agent 
 thereof to intentionally engage in any reprisal against any 
 person because that person: 

    (1) Opposed a practice forbidden under this chapter or has 
 filed a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any 
 manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this 
 chapter; or 

    (2) Associated with a person or group of persons who are 
 disabled or who are of different race, color, creed, religion, 
 sexual orientation, or national origin. 

    A reprisal includes, but is not limited to, any form of 
 intimidation, retaliation, or harassment.  It is a reprisal for 
 an employer to do any of the following with respect to an 
 individual because that individual has engaged in the activities 
 listed in clause (1) or (2):  refuse to hire the individual; 
 depart from any customary employment practice; transfer or 
 assign the individual to a lesser position in terms of wages, 
 hours, job classification, job security, or other employment 
 status; or inform another employer that the individual has 
 engaged in the activities listed in clause (1) or (2). 

    Subd. 8.    Credit; discrimination.  It is an unfair 
 discriminatory practice:  

    (1) to discriminate in the extension of personal or 
 commercial credit to a person, or in the requirements for 
 obtaining credit, because of race, color, creed, religion, 
 disability, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, or marital 
 status, or due to the receipt of federal, state, or local public 
 assistance including medical assistance; or 

    (2) to discriminate in the extension of personal or 
 commercial credit against any person who is a tenant receiving 
 federal, state, or local housing subsidies, including rental 
 assistance or rent supplements because the person is a recipient 
 of those subsidies or assistance; or 

    (3) for a credit card issuer to refuse to issue a credit 
 card to a woman under her current or former surname unless there 
 is an intent to defraud or mislead, except that a credit card 
 issuer may require that a woman requesting a card under a former 
 surname open a separate account in that name.  A credit card 
 issuer may also require disclosure of any other names under 
 which the credit card applicant may have a credit history. 

    Subd. 8a.    Business discrimination.  It is an unfair 
 discriminatory practice for a person engaged in a trade or 
 business or in the provision of a service:  

    (a) to refuse to do business with or provide a service to a 
 woman based on her use of her current or former surname; or 

    (b) to impose, as a condition of doing business with or 
 providing a service to a woman, that a woman use her current 
 surname rather than a former surname; or 

    (c) to intentionally refuse to do business with, to refuse 
 to contract with, or to discriminate in the basic terms, 
 conditions, or performance of the contract because of a person's 
 race, national origin, color, sex, sexual orientation, or 
 disability, unless the alleged refusal or discrimination is 
 because of a legitimate business purpose. 

    Nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit positive action 
 plans. 

    Subd. 8b. Repealed, 2001 c 186 s 5 

    Subd. 9.    Interference with pension rights.  For 
 purposes of subdivision 1 discrimination on account of age shall 
 include acts which interfere with an employee's opportunity to 
 acquire pension credits or pension benefits when the 
 interference cannot be shown to have been based on just cause 
 unrelated to the employee's status with regard to pension 
 credits or pension benefits. 

    Subd. 10.    Discrimination against blind, 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 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 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 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). 

    Subd. 11.    Disparate impact cases.  If the complaining 
 party has met its burden of showing that an employment practice 
 is responsible for a statistically significant adverse impact on 
 a particular class of persons protected by section 363.03, 
 subdivision 1, clause (2), an employer must justify that 
 practice by demonstrating that the practice is manifestly 
 related to the job or significantly furthers an important 
 business purpose.  Upon establishment of this justification, the 
 charging party may prevail upon demonstration of the existence 
 of a comparably effective practice that the court finds would 
 cause a significantly lesser adverse impact on the identified 
 protected class. 

    HIST: 1955 c 516 s 5; 1961 c 428 s 5; 1965 c 585 s 2; 1965 c 
 586 s 1; 1967 c 897 s 12-16; 1969 c 9 s 80; 1969 c 975 s 3-5; 
 1973 c 296 s 1; 1973 c 729 s 3,16; 1974 c 354 s 1; 1975 c 206 s 
 2-5; 1977 c 351 s 5-7; 1977 c 408 s 3; 1980 c 531 s 4; 1980 c 
 540 s 1,2; 1981 c 330 s 1; 1982 c 517 s 8; 1983 c 216 art 1 s 
 59; 1983 c 276 s 7-10; 1984 c 533 s 2,3; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1986 c 
 444; 1987 c 23 s 3; 1987 c 129 s 3; 1987 c 141 s 2; 1987 c 245 s 
 1; 1988 c 660 s 4; 1989 c 280 s 9-14,21; 1990 c 567 s 3-6; 1992 
 c 527 s 12-16; 1993 c 22 s 8-15; 1993 c 277 s 5-7; 1994 c 630 
 art 12 s 1; 1995 c 212 art 2 s 10; 1997 c 171 s 1; 2001 c 186 s 
 1; 2001 c 194 s 2