Local Politics Makes a Big Splash: Amendments to Minneapolis Civil Rights Ordinance Provide Further Protection

Quick Hits

• Minneapolis employers must not discriminate on the basis of an individual’s height, weight, justice-impacted status, or housing status, unless there is a bona fide occupational qualification or other exception.
• Minneapolis employers must provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with known pregnancy-related limitations.
• Minneapolis employers must provide religious accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer.

New Protected Characteristics

Under Minneapolis’s civil rights ordinance, except when based on a bona fide occupational qualification, it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to discharge, refuse to hire, or discriminate with respect to “hiring, training, apprenticeship, tenure, promotion, upgrading, compensation, benefits, layoff, discharge or any term or condition of employment” based on a protected class or if the protected class was a “motivating factor.” Effective August 1, 2025, the ordinance will also prohibit discrimination on the basis of height, weight, justice-impacted status, and housing status, defined as:

• Height and weight: “A numerical measurement of body height, body weight, or body size. Height encompasses, but is not limited to, an impression of a person as tall or short, regardless of numerical measurement. Weight encompasses, but is not limited to, an impression of a person’s weight (fat, thin, etc.), regardless of numerical measurement. Height and weight include scores, ratios, or metrics that involve measurements of the body in whole or in part.”
• Housing status: “The state of having, or not having, a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.”
• Justice-impacted status: “The state of having a criminal record or history, including any arrest, charge, conviction, period of incarceration, or past or current probationary status.”

The amendment also defines “race,” and expands what is included in “familial status.”

• Race is defined as: “inclusive of traits historically associated or perceived to be associated with race including, but not limited to, skin color, certain physical features, hair texture, and protective hairstyles. For purposes of this definition, ‘protective hairstyles’ includes, but is not limited to, such hairstyles as afros, braids, locks, and twists.”
• Familial status now includes: “residing with and caring for one (1) or more individuals who lack the ability to meet essential requirements for physical health, safety, or self-care because the individual or individuals are unable to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions.”

Exceptions

While the amended Minneapolis civil rights ordinance expands protection to additional individuals, the protection is not unlimited. Employers may consider height and weight, housing status, and justice-impacted status if required by law for an employee’s position. For height and weight, if the individual’s height or weight would prevent the individual from performing the essential functions of the job and no reasonable accommodation would allow the individual to perform the job without placing an undue hardship upon the employer, the employer may avoid liability.

Protections regarding justice-impacted status do not apply if the employment decision is reasonably based on how past criminal conduct relates to the skills and fitness needed for the job, considering the following factors:

• whether they were convicted;
• length of time since the alleged offense or conviction;
• nature and gravity of the crime(s);
• age of the employee at the time of the crime(s);
• evidence of rehabilitation efforts; and
• any unreasonable risk to property or to the safety or welfare of others.

The ordinance also bars an employer from taking adverse action against an individual based on an arrest that did not result in a conviction, unless the arrest is from a pending criminal case and the employer considers the above factors. An employer may make adverse employment decisions based on an individual’s justice-impacted status for positions that involve work with children and positions in law enforcement.

Additional Accommodation Requirements for Minneapolis Employers

Employers will be required to take steps to accommodate known pregnancy-related limitations. If an individual requests an accommodation for a known pregnancy-related limitation, the employer must not take adverse action against the employee because of the accommodation request. The ordinance also requires an employer to engage in an “informal, interactive process” to determine whether a reasonable accommodation can be made. Employers will be required to provide employees with religious accommodations for sincerely held religious beliefs, unless doing so would impose an “undue hardship.”

Ogletree Deakins’ Minneapolis office will continue to track developments and will publish updates on the Background Checks, Leaves of Absence, and Minnesota blogs as more information becomes available.

Further information is available in the Ogletree Deakins Client Portal in the Use & Evaluation – Arrests, Use & Evaluation – Convictions, and Miscellaneous Background Checks law summaries. (Full law summaries are available for Premium-level subscribers; Snapshots and Updates are available for all registered client-users.) For more information on the Client Portal or a Client Portal subscription, please reach out to clientportal@ogletree.com.

Corie J. Anderson is a shareholder in the Minneapolis office of Ogletree Deakins.

Anna J. Erickson is a law student currently participating in the summer associate program in the Minneapolis office of Ogletree Deakins.

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