US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

      (a)      It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer:

            (1)      To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, or otherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to the individual's compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or disability unrelated in nature and extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment, or because of the individual's refusal to submit to a genetic test or make available the results of a genetic test;

            (2)      To limit, segregate, or classify its employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the individual's status as an employee, because of the individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or disability unrelated in nature and extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment, or because of the individual's refusal to submit to a genetic test or make available the results of a genetic test; or

            (3)      To request or require genetic tests or genetic information as a condition for hiring or determining benefits.

      (b)      It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of the individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability unrelated in nature and extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment, or to classify or refer for employment any individual on the basis of the individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability unrelated in nature and extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment.

      (c)      It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a labor organization: (1) to exclude or to expel from its membership, or otherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of the individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability unrelated in nature and extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment; (2) to limit, segregate or classify its membership, or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for employment any individual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities, or would limit such employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect the individual's status as an employee or as an applicant for employment, because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability unrelated in nature and extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment; or (3) to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual in violation of this section.

      (d)      It shall be an unlawful employment practice for any employer, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, including on-the-job training programs to discriminate against any individual because of the individual's race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, or disability unrelated in nature or extent so as to reasonably preclude the performance of the employment in admission to, or employment in, any program established to provide apprenticeship or other training.

      (e)      It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, labor organization, or employment agency to print or cause to be printed or published any notice or advertisement relating to employment by the employer or membership in or any classification or referral for employment by the labor organization, or relating to any classification or referral for employment by the agency, indicating any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination, based on race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, or on the basis of a disability. However, a notice or advertisement may indicate a preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination based on religion, sex, age, national origin or disability when religion, sex, age, national origin or disability is a bona fide occupational qualification for employment.

      (f)      It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate against any of its employees or applicants for employment, for an employment agency to discriminate against any individual, or for a labor organization to discriminate against any member thereof or applicant for membership, because the individual has opposed any practice made an unlawful employment practice by this subtitle or because the individual has made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this subtitle.

      (g)      Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, (1) it is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to hire and employ employees, for an employment agency to classify, or refer for employment any individual, for a labor organization to classify its membership or to classify or refer for employment any individual, or for an employer, labor organization or joint labor-management committee controlling apprenticeship or other training or retraining programs to admit or employ any individual in any such program, on the basis of the individual's religion, national origin or disability in those instances where sex, age, religion, national origin or disability is a bona fide occupational qualification reasonably necessary to the normal operation of that particular business or enterprise; (2) it is not an unlawful employment practice for an employer to establish standards concerning an employee's dress and grooming if the standards are directly related to the nature of the employment of the employee; (3) it is not an unlawful employment practice for a school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning to hire and employ employees of a particular religion if the school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is, in whole or in substantial part, owned, supported, controlled, or managed by a particular religion or by a particular religious corporation, association, or society or if the curriculum of the school, college, university, or other educational institution or institution of learning is directed toward the propagation of a particular religion; and (4) it is not unlawful for an employer, employment agency or labor organization to observe the terms of a bona fide seniority system or any bona fide employee benefit plan such as a retirement, pension or insurance plan, which is not a subterfuge to evade the purposes of this subtitle; however, no employee benefit plan shall excuse the failure to hire any individual.

      (h)      Nothing contained in this subtitle shall be interpreted to require any employer, employment agency, labor organization, or joint labor-management committee subject to this subtitle to grant preferential treatment to any individual or to any group because of the race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability of the individual or group on account of an imbalance which may exist with respect to the total number or percentage of persons of any race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation or persons with disabilities employed by any employer, referred or classified for employment by any employment agency or labor organization, admitted to membership or classified by any labor agency or labor organization, admitted to membership or classified by any labor organization, or admitted to, or employed in, any apprenticeship or other training program, in comparison with the total number or percentage of persons of such race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, or persons with disabilities in any community, State, section, or other area, or in the available work force in any community, State, section, or other area.

      (i)      An employer shall be immune from liability, under this article or under the common law, arising out of the employer's reasonable acts to verify the sexual orientation of any employee or applicant taken by the employer in response to a charge filed against the employer on the basis of sexual orientation.