Cambridge Code of Ordinances ch. 2.76 § 2.76.120

The Commission shall receive and investigate complaints of presence in the City of prejudice, intolerance or bigotry, including, but not limited to, such matters as the choice of lifestyle and the consequences such attitudes in the community engender and initiate its own investigation of the following activities and unlawful practices except that complaints against the City of Cambridge, City Departments and/or City employees shall be referred to the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination ("MCAD") for investigating and resolution: A.
It is an unlawful practice to deny any person or group equal access to services in employment, housing, education, recreation or other areas where such denial is based on limited English language skills.
B. 1. It is an unlawful practice for an employer directly or indirectly to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment, training or apprenticeship or to discriminate against any individual in compensation or in the terms, conditions or privileges of employment, training or apprenticeship, because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such individual, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification. An employer who asserts that a discriminatory practice is justified because of a bona fide occupational qualification that has not been certified as such by the Commission or by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination under Chapter 151B of the Massachusetts General Laws, shall have the burden of showing:
a. That the discrimination is in fact a necessary result of a bona fide occupational qualification; and
b. That there exists no less discriminatory means of satisfying the occupational qualifications.
2. Reasonable accommodation shall be made to enable the employment or continued employment of a person with a disability unless the employer can demonstrate that the extent of the accommodation required to meet the limitations of the person would impose an undue hardship or safety hazard to the employer's business.
3. The following practices shall be exempt from the operation of this section:
a. Employment practices of an employer of fewer than six persons;
b. Employment of an individual by their parent, child or spouse;
c. Employment by a religious institution of individuals performing a service related to a bona fide religious purpose;
d. Employment of an individual for work within the home of the employer;
e. Employment of an individual for the rendering of services to the person of the employer or their family.
4. The following practices shall not be deemed unlawful:
a. Employment programs designed to effect affirmative action by giving special preference to women, racial minorities or veterans; provided, that such employment programs shall not discriminate among women, racial minorities or veterans on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter;
b. Employment limited to the elderly or persons with disabilities; provided, that such employment shall not discriminate among the elderly or persons with disabilities on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter;
c. Observance by an employer of the conditions of a bona fide employee benefits system or plan (including, but not limited to, a contractual seniority system); provided that no such system or plan shall provide an excuse for failure to hire any individual.
C. It is an unlawful practice for any employment agency directly or indirectly to fail or refuse to classify properly or refer for employment or otherwise discriminate against any individual because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such individual. An employment agency that specializes in the recruitment and placement of the elderly or persons with disabilities shall be exempt from the operation of this section with respect to such specialized services; provided, that such services shall not discriminate among the elderly or persons with disabilities on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter.
D. It is an unlawful practice for a labor organization directly or indirectly to refuse to admit to membership, training, apprenticeship or classification or to otherwise discriminate against any individual because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such individual.
E. It is an unlawful practice for an employer, employment agency or labor organization directly or indirectly to advertise or otherwise publicize that any individual is unwelcome or not employable because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such individual, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification or one of the exceptions set forth in subsections B. and C. of this section.
F. 1. It is an unlawful practice for any person directly or indirectly to refuse to engage in a real estate transaction with. any person or to set discriminatory terms or conditions with respect to a real estate transaction with any person or to advertise or otherwise publicize that any person is unwelcome or may not enter into a real estate transaction because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such person or of a person residing with such person.
2. This section does not create an affirmative duty to remove barriers for persons with disabilities in excess of the requirements of existing laws and ordinances, but reasonable accommodation shall be made to enable the provision of housing for a person with a disability.
3. The following practices shall be exempt from the operation of this section:
a. The leasing or renting of a room or rooms within a dwelling or apartment which is occupied by the lessor as their residence and in which the roomer or boarder must pass through the space or a portion thereof occupied by such lessor in order to gain access to the room or rooms thus let or rented;
b. The leasing or renting of a single apartment in a two-family dwelling, the other residential unit of which is occupied by the lessor as their residence;
c. The leasing, rental or other provision with or without fee or space within a church, temple, synagogue, religious school or other facility used primarily for religious purposes.
4. The following practices shall not be deemed unlawful:
a. The establishment of government-sponsored housing programs operated either directly by government agencies or indirectly through government subsidization and regulation, which programs are designed to assist the elderly, persons with disabilities or economically disadvantaged individuals; provided, that such programs shall not discriminate among the elderly, persons with disabilities or economically disadvantaged on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter;
b. The establishment of housing set aside for or limited to the elderly or persons with disabilities; provided, that such establishment shall not discriminate among the elderly or persons with disabilities on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter.
c. The establishment of same-sex dormitories or portions thereof by educational facilities; provided that such establishment shall not discriminate on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter.
d. The establishment of a hospital, convent, monastery, shelter, asylum or residential facility for the care and lodging of persons in need of special medical, rehabilitative, social or psychological support, including, but not limited to, half-way houses, drug treatment centers, detoxification facilities, shelters for the homeless, and the like.
G. It is an unlawful practice for any bank, financial institution or any other credit-granting or credit-approving institution or person, including a retail store that sells goods or services on credit, directly or indirectly to discriminate in the granting, reporting, approval or extension of any form of loan or credit to any person because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such person. It shall not be an unlawful practice under this section to establish or review the creditworthiness of any person by seeking information relevant to such creditworthiness as amount and source of income, age, employment history, credit references and the number and age of dependents.
H. 1. It is an unlawful practice for any insurance company, insurance agent or person engaged in the service of providing insurance to refuse to insure any person or discriminate in the terms of insuring any person because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such person, unless based on a bona fide actuarially determined insurance factor, such as the age or health of the person, that affects the risk for which insurance is being sought.
2. In accordance with federal court cases, it is the intention of this section that actuarial data be gender-neutral.
I. It is an unlawful practice for any bonding institution or person engaged in the service of providing financial and performance bonds to refuse to bond any person or discriminate in the terms of bonding because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such person.
J. 1. It is an unlawful practice for any educational facility directly or indirectly to fail or refuse to admit, or to curtail or terminate admission to, or to discriminate in the terms or conditions of educational services, programs opportunities or curriculum offered by it to any person because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such person.
2. The following practices shall not be deemed unlawful:
a. The establishment by an educational facility of minimum or maximum age requirements for any educational program; provided, that such establishment shall not discriminate among the potential students on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter;
b. The selection of students by a religious educational facility that is limited exclusively or gives preference to members of such religion; provided, that such selection shall not discriminate among the members of such religion on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter;
c. The maintenance or establishment by an educational facility of a school or program limited to members of only one sex or otherwise segregated by sex; provided, that such facility shall not discriminate among the members of such sex on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter;
d. Educational programs or policies designed to effect affirmative action by giving special preference to women, racial minorities or veterans; provided, that such programs or policies shall not discriminate among women, racial minorities, or veterans on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter;
e. The establishment by an educational facility of special programs designed to assist or provide special training for persons with disabilities, the elderly, individuals not fluent in English, or the economically disadvantaged; provided, that such selection shall not discriminate among persons with disabilities, elderly, individuals not fluent in English, or the economically disadvantaged on the basis of other discriminatory criteria as set forth in Section 2.76.030 of this Chapter.
K. 1. It is an unlawful practice for any person directly or indirectly to withhold, deny, curtail or in any manner limit the full use of a public accommodation by any person, or discriminate against such person with respect to the use of such accommodation, because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such person.
a. It is an unlawful practice for any person who owns, operates, leases, or leases to a place of public accommodation, to fail to take action to remove architectural barriers, and communication barriers that are structural in nature, in existing places of public accommodation, unless such barrier removal action is not readily achievable, i.e., easily accomplishable and able to be carried out without much difficulty or expense. For the purposes of this section, "barrier" means any physical element of a facility that impedes access by people with disabilities.
b. In determining whether an action is readily achievable, factors to be considered include:
i. The nature and cost of the action needed under this section;
ii. The overall financial resources of the public accommodation involved in the action; the number of persons employed at such public accommodation; the effect on expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of such action upon the operation of the public accommodation;
iii. The overall financial resources of the public accommodation; the overall size of the business of a public accommodation with respect to the number of its employees; the number, type, and location of its facilities; and
iv. The type of operation or operations of the public accommodation, including the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce of such public accommodation; the geographic separateness, administrative or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the public accommodation.
c. Where a public accommodation can demonstrate that the removal of a barrier under clause 1.a. is not readily achievable, it is an unlawful practice for that public accommodation to fail to make such goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations available through non-structural methods, if such methods are readily achievable.
d. These provisions shall not apply to entities other than those entities regulated by Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. 12181-2189.
2. It is an unlawful practice for any person directly or indirectly to advertise or otherwise publicize that any person is unwelcome to the full use of any public accommodation because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status, or source of income of such person.
3. The following practices shall not be deemed unlawful:
a. The designation of a public accommodation for the exclusive or preferential use of the elderly or persons with disabilities;
b. The designation of a rest room or of a privately owned athletic or exercise facility for the exclusive or preferential use of members of a single sex;
c. The advertisement of a public accommodation as being for the preferential use of persons of a particular sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status or military status, provided such preference is not advertised as or implied to be a requirement for entry or use of such public accommodation.
L. It is an unlawful practice for any person to harass, intimidate, threaten, assault or otherwise discriminate against any person in or upon any public accommodation because of the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of such person, or attempt to do so.
M. It is an unlawful practice for any person to commit any act forbidden by this Chapter for any reason that would not have been asserted, wholly or partially, but for the race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, relationship status, family structure, gender identity, marital status, family status, military status or source of income of any person.
N. It is an unlawful practice for any person to aid, abet, incite, compel, coerce or conspire to the commission of any of the acts forbidden by this Chapter or to attempt to do so.
O. It is an unlawful practice for any person to discharge, expel, evict, harass, retaliate in any manner or otherwise take action against any person because such person has opposed any act forbidden by this Chapter or because such person has filed a complaint, testified or assisted in any proceeding under this Chapter.