The Civil Rights Act of 1964

To enforce the constitutional right to vote, to confer jurisdiction upon the district courts of the United States to provide injunctive relief against discrimination in public accommodations, to authorize the Attorney General to institute suits to protect constitutional rights in public facilities and public education, to extend the Commission on Civil Rights, to prevent discrimination in federally assisted programs, to establish a Commission on Equal Employment Opportunity, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that this Act may be cited as the "Civil Rights Act of 1964." 

  The Kentucky Civil Rights Act was signed into law in 1966 by Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. Below is the basic information about the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. 

The Kentucky Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodation and financial transactions. 

Employment: Kentucky Revised Statute (KRS) 344 prohibits discrimination in employment based on age (40 and older), color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, pregnancy, or because the individual is a smoker or not a smoker. It is unlawful to retaliate against anyone who has filed a complaint of discrimination, who is a witness in an investigation or who has refused to participate in a discriminatory act. It covers employers, employment agencies, labor unions, and licensing agencies. It covers employers with eight or more employees, and 15 or more employees for a complaint based on disability and pregnancy. 

Housing: KRS 344.360 prohibits discrimination based on color, disability, familial status, national origin, race, religion and sex in the sale or rental of housing and in other real estate-related transactions, with certain limited exceptions. The Kentucky Fair Housing Act covers apartment managers and owners, real estate licensees, builders, contractors, developers, homeowners advertising their own house, home insurance agencies, mortgage lenders, banks and other similar financial institutions, and advertising media. Anyone who owns or manages two or more units of housing is subject to fair housing laws. Owner-occupied duplexes are exempt. 

Public Accommodations: Under KRS 344.120, it is an unlawful practice for a person to deny an individual the full and equal enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of a place of public accommodation, resort, or amusement on the basis of disability, color, national origin, race, or/and religion. Sex discrimination is prohibited in hotels, motels, restaurants and in public accommodations supported directly or indirectly by government funds. 

In Financial Transactions, under KRS 344.400, it is unlawful to discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions or service because of race, color, religion, national origin, familial status, disability, age or sex in a financial transaction. The law covers financial institutions, lenders and other entities that provide credit. 

Kentucky Pregnant Workers Act, (eff. 6/27/2019) The Kentucky Pregnant Workers Act, (KPWA), (KRS 344.030 to 344.110), expressly prohibits employment discrimination in relation to an employee’s pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions. This law requires employers with 15 employees or more to make reasonable accommodations for any employee with limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition who requests an accommodation, including but not limited to: (1) the need for more frequent or longer breaks; (2) time off to recover from childbirth; (3) acquisition or modification of equipment; (4) appropriate seating; (5) temporary transfer to a less strenuous or less hazardous position; (6) job restructuring; (7) light duty; modified work schedule; and (8) private space that is not a bathroom for expressing breast milk.

Statutes of Limitations: Under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, a complaint related to employment must be filed within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the incident of discrimination. After 180 days, the complainant has an additional 120 days to file the complaint with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission at 1-800-669-4000. For information about EEOC, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov 

A complaint related to public accommodation must be filed within one hundred and eighty (180) days of the incident of discrimination. 

A housing complaint must be filed within one year of the day of the incident. For any questions, please call to the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights at 800-292-5566. 

The Kentucky Civil Rights Act is available at this link:

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/chapter.aspx?id=38920