A revised version of a proposed, sweeping anti-discrimination ordinance is up for introduction at Tuesday’s Luzerne County Council meeting.
The legislation would create a county human relations commission to rule on discrimination complaints that extend beyond county government and involve employment, housing, healthcare, education, and establishments offering goods and services to the general public.
At least four of 11 council votes are required to introduce ordinances to keep them on the table. A subsequent public hearing and final council majority approval are necessary for ordinances to take effect.
A council majority first introduced the ordinance on April 14 at the urging of its drafter, Councilwoman Joanna Bryn Smith. The introduction vote was along party lines, with approval from all eight Democrats and no votes from the three Republicans — Harry Haas, John Lombardo, and LeeAnn McDermott.
Due to concerns about the way that ordinance was introduced, council is scheduled to withdraw that introduction on Tuesday and vote on introducing a new version jointly prepared by Bryn Smith and council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino.
The revised proposal slated for introduction defines discrimination as “any exclusion, denial, intimidation, coercion, difference, or segregation in treatment because of an individual’s membership in a protected class” in areas that include:
• Employment hiring, promoting, and training
• Housing sales, leases, rentals, financing, and zoning
• Healthcare provisions
• Education
• Services rendered in places of public accommodation
• Relations to an individual’s natural hair or protected hairstyle, where such hair or hairstyle does not pose a legitimate health or safety risk or otherwise interfere with the performance of essential job functions
Each impacted sector is described at length.
For example, covered educational institutions would include public or private schools, colleges, universities, trade schools, preschools, and daycare providers.
An employer would be any person or organization with one or more workers, not including parents, a spouse, or children.
It lists the following under the protected class definition: actual or perceived race, ethnicity, color, religion, creed, national origin or citizenship status, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, genetic information, marital status, familial status, GED rather than high school diploma, physical or mental disability, relationship or association with a disabled person, source of income, age, height, weight, veteran status, use of guide or support animals and/or mechanical aids, or domestic or sexual violence victim status.
Protected hairstyles are associated with an individual’s culture or religion, including locs, braids, twists, coils, Bantu knots, afros, extensions, wigs, and payot.
If the county commission deemed a complaint within its jurisdiction, it would send a copy to the respondent and require a written response within 60 days, the proposed ordinance said.
A commission investigator would determine if there is probable cause that an unlawful practice has occurred and present findings to the commission for further proceedings, which could include mediation and/or a public hearing. The investigator can be one or more members of the commission or a non-member qualified to investigate, such as a former law enforcement officer, it said.
Violators can be found guilty of a summary offense and, upon conviction, be sentenced to pay a fine ranging from $100 to $500, it said. The county also may seek recovery of attorney fees and other investigative costs, it said.
A copy of the lengthy proposed ordinance is in the agenda packet at luzernecounty.org, with a reminder to view the second version on pages 43 to 64, not the one preceding it, which is slated for withdrawal.
Tuesday’s council meeting is at 6 p.m. in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions for the remote attendance option will be posted in council’s online public meeting section at luzernecounty.org.
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