To the extent words and phrases appearing in this chapter are
not expressly defined herein, the meaning of the words and phrases
in this chapter shall be construed consistently with the Pennsylvania
Human Relations Act. The following words and phrases. when used in this chapter,
shall have the following meanings:
BOROUGH
The Borough of Bridgeport, County of Montgomery, Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania.
DISCRIMINATION
Any discriminatory act(s) taken by any person, employer,
employment agency, labor organization, or public accommodation on
the basis of actual or perceived race, color, sex, religion, ancestry,
genetic information, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity
or expression, familial status, marital status, age, mental or physical
disability, veteran status, or use of guide or support animals and/or
mechanical aids.
DISCRIMINATORY ACTS
Include, but are not limited to, all acts defined in the
Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1991, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and/or any other federal law addressing discrimination
based on any protected characteristic protected by this chapter, or
any acts of discrimination regardless of whether such actions would
otherwise be lawful under state or federal law. The fact that the
Pennsylvania Human Relations Act would not define a practice as unlawful
when that practice is taken on the basis of actual or perceived sexual
orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, veteran
status, or marital status shall not exempt such practice from being
considered a discriminatory act under this chapter.
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION
Those postsecondary programs defined as educational institutions
pursuant to the Pennsylvania Fair Educational Opportunities Act, 24
P.S. § 5001 et seq.
EMPLOYEE
A person who is hired for a wage, salary, fee, or payment
to perform work for an employer on a regular basis. A person will
be deemed to be an employee if such person regularly performs services
for the employer for compensation and the employer controls what work
will be done by the person and how it will be done. The term does
not include any individuals who, as a part of their employment, reside
in the personal residence of the employer.
EMPLOYER
Any person who employs one or more employees, including the
Borough, its departments, boards and commissions, and any other government
agency within its jurisdiction.
GENDER IDENTITY OR EXPRESSION
Self-perception, or perception by others, as male or female,
or lack thereof, and shall include an individual's appearance,
behavior, or physical characteristics, that may be in accord with,
or opposed to, one's physical anatomy, chromosomal sex, or sex
assigned at birth, and shall include, but is not limited to, persons
who are undergoing or have completed sex reassignment, are transgender,
or gender variant.
GENETIC INFORMATION
That information which is defined as genetic information
in the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, 42 U.S.C.A.
§ 2000ff.
HOUSING ACCOMMODATIONS:
A.
The term includes:
(1)
Any building, structure, mobile home site or facility, or portion
thereof, which is used or occupied or is intended, arranged, or designed
to be used or occupied as the home residence or sleeping place of
one or more individuals, groups or families, whether or not living
independently of each other; and
(2)
Any vacant land publicly offered for sale or lease for the purpose
of constructing or locating thereon any such building, structure,
mobile home site, or facility.
B.
The term "housing accommodation" shall not include any personal
residence offered for rent by the owner or lessee thereof or by his
or her broker, salesperson, agent, or employee.
ORDINANCE
This chapter, which shall also be known as the "Human Relations
Ordinance."
PERSON
Any natural person, fraternal, civic or other membership
organization, corporation, general or limited partnership, proprietorship,
limited-liability company, or similar business organization, including
the Borough, its departments, boards, and commissions, and other for-profit
and nonprofit organizations.
PERSONAL RESIDENCE
A building or structure containing living quarters occupied
or intended to be occupied by no more than two individuals, two groups
or two families living independently of each other and used by the
owner or lessee thereof as a bona fide residence for himself and any
members of his family forming his household.
PUBLIC ACCOMMODATION
Any accommodation, resort or amusement which is open to,
accepts or solicits the patronage of the general public or offers
goods or services, including loans, to the general public or is listed
in Section 4(1) of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, 43 P.S. § 954(1),
but shall not include any accommodations which are in their nature
distinctly private.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Actual or perceived homosexuality, heterosexuality, and/or
bisexuality.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the following
shall not be considered unlawful under this chapter, or shall otherwise
not apply:
A. Employment practices for a religious corporation, organization, or
association, not supported in whole or in part by governmental appropriations,
in refusing to hire, house, employ, or otherwise accommodate an individual
on the basis of such religious organization's established and
demonstrated religious principles or beliefs.
B. Selections or preferences by a religious institution, denomination,
or organization, or any charitable or educational organization which
is operated or controlled by a religious organization, given to a
member of that same religious organization when determined by such
organization to promote the established and demonstrated religious
principles or beliefs of the organization.
C. Selections or preferences by any bona fide private or fraternal organization
given to a member of that same private or fraternal organization when
determined by such organization to promote the aims, purposes, or
fraternal principles for which the organization is established or
maintained.
D. Enforcement of a dress code or grooming which is reasonably related
to the business or profession being conducted, provided that:
(1) Such dress code or grooming is not a subterfuge for discriminatory
purposes;
(2) The employer reasonably accommodates the bona fide religious practices
or disability of an employee; or
(3) The enforcement of a dress code or grooming does not have a disparate
impact on employees with a characteristic protected by this chapter.
E. The advertising, rental, or leasing of housing accommodations in
a single-sex dormitory.
Having exhausted the administrative remedies set forth herein,
an aggrieved person shall have the right to pursue any rights or causes
of action at law or in equity to which such person may be entitled.
Nothing in this chapter limits the right of an aggrieved person to
recover under any other applicable law or legal theory.