2020 Georgia Code
Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees
Chapter 19 - Labor Practices
Article 2 - Fair Employment Practices
§ 45-19-22. Definitions

As used in this article, the term:

1. "Administrator" means the administrator of the Commission on Equal Opportunity provided for by Code Section 45-19-24, which agency is composed of an Equal Employment Division and a Fair Housing Division.
2. "Board" means the Board of Commissioners of the Commission on Equal Opportunity created by Code Section 45-19-23.
3. "Disability" means a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities, unless an employer demonstrates that the employer is unable to accommodate reasonably to an employee's or prospective employee's disability without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's operation.
4. "Discrimination" means any direct or indirect act or practice of exclusion, distinction, restriction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or any other act or practice of differentiation or preference in the treatment of a person or persons because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or age or the aiding, abetting, inciting, coercing, or compelling of such an act or practice. This term shall not include any direct or indirect act or practice of exclusion, distinction, restriction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or any other act or practice of differentiation or preference in the treatment of a person or persons because of religion if an employer demonstrates that the employer is unable to accommodate reasonably an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's operation.
5. "Public employer" or "employer" means any department, board, bureau, commission, authority, or other agency of the state which employs 15 or more employees within the state for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year. A person elected to public office in this state is a public employer with respect to persons holding positions or individuals applying for positions which are subject to the state system of personnel administration created by Chapter 20 of this title, including the rules and regulations promulgated by the State Personnel Board or any personnel merit system of any agency or authority of this state. A person elected to public office in this state is not a public employer with respect to persons holding positions or individuals applying for positions on such officer's personal staff or on the policy-making level or as immediate advisers with respect to the exercise of the constitutional or legal powers of the office held by such officer.
6. "Public employment" means employment by any department, board, bureau, commission, authority, or other agency of the State of Georgia.
7. "Religion" means all aspects of religious observance and practice as well as belief.
8. "Unlawful practice" means an act or practice declared to be an unlawful practice in Code Sections 45-19-29 through 45-19-31, 45-19-32, or 45-19-45.

(Ga. L. 1978, p. 859, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1097, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 45; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1828, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1302, § 9; Ga. L. 2009, p. 745, § 2/SB 97; Ga. L. 2012, p. 446, § 2-81/HB 642.)

- Ga. L. 2012, p. 446, § 3-1/HB 642, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "Personnel, equipment, and facilities that were assigned to the State Personnel Administration as of June 30, 2012, shall be transferred to the Department of Administrative Services on the effective date of this Act." This Act became effective July 1, 2012.

Ga. L. 2012, p. 446, § 3-2/HB 642, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "Appropriations for functions which are transferred by this Act may be transferred as provided in Code Section 45-12-90."

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Employment practices that are facially neutral.

- Discrimination can involve employment practices, such as standardized tests, that are facially neutral, but in fact fall more harshly on one group than another and cannot be justified as a business necessity. Georgia Dep't of Human Resources v. Montgomery, 248 Ga. 465, 284 S.E.2d 263 (1981).

Cited in Bd. of Regents of the Univ. Sys. of Ga. v. One Sixty Over Ninety, LLC, 351 Ga. App. 133, 830 S.E.2d 503 (2019), cert. denied, No. S19C1521, 2020 Ga. LEXIS 118 (Ga. 2020).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

"Employee" and "employer" defined.

- An "employee" is a person who renders services to another usually for wages, salary, or financial consideration, and who, in performance of such services, is subject to direction and control of another, such other being the employer. The "employer" is that entity which has control over time, manner, and method by which "employee" performs the task. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-72.

In classified service of state merit system, the employer is appointing authority or employing agency and not state merit system or State Personnel Board. 1980 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 80-72.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Application of state law to sex discrimination in employment, 87 A.L.R.3d 93.

Construction and effect of state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of physical handicap, 90 A.L.R.3d 393.

Accommodation requirement under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 76 A.L.R.4th 310.

Handicap as job disqualification under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 78 A.L.R.4th 265.

Damages and other relief under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 78 A.L.R.4th 435.

Discrimination "because of handicap" or "on the basis of handicap" under state statutes prohibiting job discrimination on account of handicap, 81 A.L.R.4th 144.

What constitutes handicap under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 82 A.L.R.4th 26.

Judicial construction and application of state legislation prohibiting religious discrimination in employment, 37 A.L.R.5th 349.

What constitutes religious harassment in employment in violation of Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 USCA § 2000e et seq.), 149 A.L.R. Fed. 405.