Human Rights Commission Meeting Date: July 24, 2024
To: Human Rights Commission
From: Claudia Garcia, Staff Liaison
Title
Minnesota Department of Human Rights update.
Body
Action Requested:
No action requested. Update only.
Summary Report:
Staff Liaison Garcia attended the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) training/meeting on Thursday, July 11, 2024 via zoom. Michelle Manivel from the MN Department of Human Rights and Christina Schaffer, the Director of Investigations, were facilitating the meeting. This training was open to the public and MDHR encouraged Human Rights Commissions/Commissioners to attend.
Beginning August 1, 2024, Minnesotans with intermittent health conditions like diabetes or epilepsy, or who have cancer in remission, will now have protections from disability discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. This means for example, someone with epilepsy can request a reasonable accommodation from their employer without fear of being fired because of their epilepsy. Previously under the law, that same person would not be eligible for any reasonable accommodation for their epilepsy and could have been fired because of their medical condition. Civil rights laws require an employer to reasonably accommodate an individual's disability and/or religious beliefs or practices unless doing so would impose undue hardship on an employer. Reasonable accommodations support current and prospective employees. An accommodation may include a change to the workplace, the job, the way the job is done, or the application or hiring process.
Also beginning August 1, 2024, the definition of familial status in Minnesota's civil rights law will be updated to clarify that familial status means parent(s) or guardian(s) having legal status and removes any reference to a minor "being domiciled." This change from "domiciled" to legal status is an important change to afford protections of the Minnesota Human Rights Act to families across the state...
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