(a) As used in this section:(1) "Pregnancy" means pregnancy, childbirth or a related condition, including, but not limited to, lactation;(2) "Reasonable accommodation" means, but is not limited to, being permitted to sit while working, more frequent or longer breaks, periodic rest, assistance with manual labor, job restructuring, light duty assignments, modified work schedules, temporary transfers to less strenuous or hazardous work, time off to recover from childbirth or break time and appropriate facilities for expressing breast milk; and(3) "Undue hardship" means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as (A) the nature and cost of the accommodation; (B) the overall financial resources of the employer; (C) the overall size of the business of the employer with respect to the number of employees, and the number, type and location of its facilities; and (D) the effect on expenses and resources or the impact otherwise of such accommodation upon the operation of the employer.(b) It shall be a discriminatory practice in violation of this section: (1) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent, except in the case of a bona fide occupational qualification or need, to refuse to hire or employ or to bar or to discharge from employment any individual or to discriminate against any individual in compensation or in terms, conditions or privileges of employment because of the individual's race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, intellectual disability, learning disability, physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness, status as a veteran or status as a victim of domestic violence;(2) For any employment agency, except in the case of a bona fide occupational qualification or need, to fail or refuse to classify properly or refer for employment or otherwise to discriminate against any individual because of such individual's race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, intellectual disability, learning disability, physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness, status as a veteran or status as a victim of domestic violence;(3) For a labor organization, because of the race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, intellectual disability, learning disability, physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness, status as a veteran or status as a victim of domestic violence of any individual to exclude from full membership rights or to expel from its membership such individual or to discriminate in any way against any of its members or against any employer or any individual employed by an employer, unless such action is based on a bona fide occupational qualification;(4) For any person, employer, labor organization or employment agency to discharge, expel or otherwise discriminate against any person because such person has opposed any discriminatory employment practice or because such person has filed a complaint or testified or assisted in any proceeding under section 46a-82, 46a-83 or 46a-84;(5) For any person, whether an employer or an employee or not, to aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce the doing of any act declared to be a discriminatory employment practice or to attempt to do so;(6) For any person, employer, employment agency or labor organization, except in the case of a bona fide occupational qualification or need, to advertise employment opportunities in such a manner as to restrict such employment so as to discriminate against individuals because of their race, color, religious creed, age, sex, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, ancestry, present or past history of mental disability, intellectual disability, learning disability, physical disability, including, but not limited to, blindness, status as a veteran or status as a victim of domestic violence;(7) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent: (A) To terminate a woman's employment because of her pregnancy; (B) to refuse to grant to that employee a reasonable leave of absence for disability resulting from her pregnancy; (C) to deny to that employee, who is disabled as a result of pregnancy, any compensation to which she is entitled as a result of the accumulation of disability or leave benefits accrued pursuant to plans maintained by the employer; (D) to fail or refuse to reinstate the employee to her original job or to an equivalent position with equivalent pay and accumulated seniority, retirement, fringe benefits and other service credits upon her signifying her intent to return unless, in the case of a private employer, the employer's circumstances have so changed as to make it impossible or unreasonable to do so; (E) to limit, segregate or classify the employee in a way that would deprive her of employment opportunities due to her pregnancy; (F) to discriminate against an employee or person seeking employment on the basis of her pregnancy in the terms or conditions of her employment; (G) to fail or refuse to make a reasonable accommodation for an employee or person seeking employment due to her pregnancy, unless the employer can demonstrate that such accommodation would impose an undue hardship on such employer; (H) to deny employment opportunities to an employee or person seeking employment if such denial is due to the employee's request for a reasonable accommodation due to her pregnancy;(I) to force an employee or person seeking employment affected by pregnancy to accept a reasonable accommodation if such employee or person seeking employment (i) does not have a known limitation related to her pregnancy, or (ii) does not require a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential duties related to her employment; (J) to require an employee to take a leave of absence if a reasonable accommodation can be provided in lieu of such leave; and (K) to retaliate against an employee in the terms, conditions or privileges of her employment based upon such employee's request for a reasonable accommodation;(8) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent, for an employment agency, by itself or its agent, or for any labor organization, by itself or its agent, to harass any employee, person seeking employment or member on the basis of sex or gender identity or expression. If an employer takes immediate corrective action in response to an employee's claim of sexual harassment, such corrective action shall not modify the conditions of employment of the employee making the claim of sexual harassment unless such employee agrees, in writing, to any modification in the conditions of employment. "Corrective action" taken by an employer, includes, but is not limited to, employee relocation, assigning an employee to a different work schedule or other substantive changes to an employee's terms and conditions of employment. Notwithstanding an employer's failure to obtain a written agreement from an employee concerning a modification in the conditions of employment, the commission may find that corrective action taken by an employer was reasonable and not of detriment to the complainant based on the evidence presented to the commission by the complainant and respondent. As used in this subdivision, "sexual harassment" means any unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors or any conduct of a sexual nature when (A) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment, (B) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (C) such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment;(9) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent, for an employment agency, by itself or its agent, or for any labor organization, by itself or its agent, to request or require information from an employee, person seeking employment or member relating to the individual's child-bearing age or plans, pregnancy, function of the individual's reproductive system, use of birth control methods, or the individual's familial responsibilities, unless such information is directly related to a bona fide occupational qualification or need, provided an employer, through a physician may request from an employee any such information which is directly related to workplace exposure to substances which may cause birth defects or constitute a hazard to an individual's reproductive system or to a fetus if the employer first informs the employee of the hazards involved in exposure to such substances;(10) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent, after informing an employee, pursuant to subdivision (9) of this subsection, of a workplace exposure to substances which may cause birth defects or constitute a hazard to an employee's reproductive system or to a fetus, to fail or refuse, upon the employee's request, to take reasonable measures to protect the employee from the exposure or hazard identified, or to fail or refuse to inform the employee that the measures taken may be the subject of a complaint filed under the provisions of this chapter. Nothing in this subdivision is intended to prohibit an employer from taking reasonable measures to protect an employee from exposure to such substances. For the purpose of this subdivision, "reasonable measures" are those measures which are consistent with business necessity and are least disruptive of the terms and conditions of the employee's employment;(11) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent, for an employment agency, by itself or its agent, or for any labor organization, by itself or its agent: (A) To request or require genetic information from an employee, person seeking employment or member, or (B) to discharge, expel or otherwise discriminate against any person on the basis of genetic information. For the purpose of this subdivision, "genetic information" means the information about genes, gene products or inherited characteristics that may derive from an individual or a family member;(12) For an employer, by the employer or the employer's agent, to request or require a prospective employee's age, date of birth, dates of attendance at or date of graduation from an educational institution on an initial employment application, provided the provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to any employer requesting or requiring such information (A) based on a bona fide occupational qualification or need, or (B) when such information is required to comply with any provision of state or federal law; and(13)(A) For an employer or the employer's agent to deny an employee a reasonable leave of absence in order to: (i) Seek attention for injuries caused by domestic violence including for a child who is a victim of domestic violence, provided the employee is not the perpetrator of the domestic violence against the child; (ii) obtain services including safety planning from a domestic violence agency or rape crisis center, as those terms are defined in section 52-146k, as a result of domestic violence; (iii) obtain psychological counseling related to an incident or incidents of domestic violence, including for a child who is a victim of domestic violence, provided the employee is not the perpetrator of the domestic violence against the child; (iv) take other actions to increase safety from future incidents of domestic violence, including temporary or permanent relocation; or (v) obtain legal services, assisting in the prosecution of the offense, or otherwise participate in legal proceedings in relation to the incident or incidents of domestic violence.(B) An employee who is absent from work in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph (A) of this subdivision shall, within a reasonable time after the absence, provide a certification to the employer when requested by the employer. Such certification shall be in the form of: (i) A police report indicating that the employee or the employee's child was a victim of domestic violence; (ii) a court order protecting or separating the employee or employee's child from the perpetrator of an act of domestic violence; (iii) other evidence from the court or prosecuting attorney that the employee appeared in court; or (iv) documentation from a medical professional, domestic violence counselor, as defined in section 52-146k, or other health care provider, that the employee or the employee's child was receiving services, counseling or treatment for physical or mental injuries or abuse resulting in victimization from an act of domestic violence.(C) Where an employee has a physical or mental disability resulting from an incident or series of incidents of domestic violence, such employee shall be treated in the same manner as an employee with any other disability.(D) To the extent permitted by law, employers shall maintain the confidentiality of any information regarding an employee's status as a victim of domestic violence.(c)(1) The provisions of this section concerning age shall not apply to: (A) The termination of employment of any person with a contract of unlimited tenure at an independent institution of higher education who is mandatorily retired, on or before July 1, 1993, after having attained the age of seventy; (B) the termination of employment of any person who has attained the age of sixty-five and who, for the two years immediately preceding such termination, is employed in a bona fide executive or a high policy-making position, if such person is entitled to an immediate nonforfeitable annual retirement benefit under a pension, profit-sharing, savings or deferred compensation plan, or any combination of such plans, from such person's employer, which equals, in aggregate, at least forty-four thousand dollars; (C) the termination of employment of persons in occupations, including police work and fire-fighting, in which age is a bona fide occupational qualification; (D) the operation of any bona fide apprenticeship system or plan; or (E) the observance of the terms of a bona fide seniority system or any bona fide employee benefit plan for retirement, pensions or insurance which is not adopted for the purpose of evading said provisions, except that no such plan may excuse the failure to hire any individual and no such system or plan may require or permit the termination of employment on the basis of age. No such plan which covers less than twenty employees may reduce the group hospital, surgical or medical insurance coverage provided under the plan to any employee who has reached the age of sixty-five and is eligible for Medicare benefits or any employee's spouse who has reached age sixty-five and is eligible for Medicare benefits except to the extent such coverage is provided by Medicare. The terms of any such plan which covers twenty or more employees shall entitle any employee who has attained the age of sixty-five and any employee's spouse who has attained the age of sixty-five to group hospital, surgical or medical insurance coverage under the same conditions as any covered employee or spouse who is under the age of sixty-five.(2) No employee retirement or pension plan may exclude any employee from membership in such plan or cease or reduce the employee's benefit accruals or allocations under such plan on the basis of age. The provisions of this subdivision shall be applicable to plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1988, except that for any collectively bargained plan this subdivision shall be applicable on the earlier of (A) January 1, 1990, or (B) the later of (i) the expiration date of the collective bargaining agreement, or (ii) January 1, 1988.(3) The provisions of this section concerning age shall not prohibit an employer from requiring medical examinations for employees for the purpose of determining such employees' physical qualification for continued employment.(4) Any employee who continues employment beyond the normal retirement age in the applicable retirement or pension plan shall give notice of intent to retire, in writing, to such employee's employer not less than thirty days prior to the date of such retirement.(d)(1) An employer shall provide written notice of the right to be free from discrimination in relation to pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions, including the right to a reasonable accommodation to the known limitations related to pregnancy pursuant to subdivision (7) of subsection (b) of this section to: (A) New employees at the commencement of employment; (B) existing employees within one hundred twenty days of October 1, 2017; and (C) any employee who notifies the employer of her pregnancy within ten days of such notification. An employer may comply with the provisions of this section by displaying a poster in a conspicuous place, accessible to employees, at the employer's place of business that contains the information required by this section in both English and Spanish. The Labor Commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to establish additional requirements concerning the means by which employers shall provide such notice.(2) The Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities shall develop courses of instruction and conduct ongoing public education efforts as necessary to inform employers, employees, employment agencies and persons seeking employment about their rights and responsibilities under this section.Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-60
(1949 Rev., S. 7405; 1955, S. 3035d; 1959, P.A. 145, S. 3; 1963, P.A. 261; 1967, P.A. 426, S. 2; P.A. 73-279, S. 14; 73-647; P.A. 75-350, S. 2; 75-446, S. 2; P.A. 78-148, S. 10; 78-350, S. 1, 6; P.A. 79-152; 79-303; 79-304, S. 1; 79-480, S. 1; P.A. 80-285; 80-422, S. 9; P.A. 81-382, S. 2; P.A. 82-196, S. 1; P.A. 86-381; P.A. 88-303, S. 3, 6; P.A. 89-147, S. 1, 3; P.A. 90-88, S. 3; 90-330, S. 3, 11; P.A. 98-180 ; P.A. 01-28 , S. 8 ; P.A. 11-55 , S. 24 ; 11-129 , S. 20 ; P.A. 17-118 , S. 1 ; 17-127 , S. 4 .)
Amended by P.A. 22-0082, S. 10 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2022.Amended by P.A. 22-0078, S. 8 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 5/24/2022.Amended by P.A. 22-0078, S. 7 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2022 Regular Session, eff. 5/24/2022.Amended by P.A. 21-0069, S. 1 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2021 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2021.Amended by P.A. 19-0093, S. 8 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2019 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2019.Amended by P.A. 19-0016, S. 4 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2019 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2019.Amended by P.A. 17-0127, S. 4 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2017 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2017.Amended by P.A. 17-0118, S. 1 of the Connecticut Acts of the 2017 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2017.Amended by P.A. 11-0055, S. 24 of the the 2011 Regular Session, eff. 10/1/2011. Annotations to former section 31-126 : Cited. 140 C. 537 ; 153 Conn. 173 ; Id., 652. Final judgment by arbitrators as to employment discrimination bears action. 163 C. 309 . Cited. Id., 327; 165 C. 318 . Sex classification in help wanted advertising constitutes a per se violation; sex discrimination is an unfair employment practice which newspapers are not allowed to promote; a newspaper aids and abets sex discrimination by offering sex classifications in help wanted advertisements and commits an unfair employment practice; bona fide occupational qualification exceptions are rare; a corporation is a "person" and a newspaper corporation publishing an advertising section in sex-segregated columns is guilty of promoting the unfair employment practice of sex discrimination in hiring. 168 Conn. 26 . Cited. Id., 504; 170 C. 327 ; 172 C. 485 . Failure to define specifications for position or to test capabilities of applicant resulting in blanket exclusion from position is unfair employment practice. 176 C. 88 . Cited. Id., 291; Id., 533; 177 C. 75 ; 179 C. 471 ; 198 C. 479 ; 211 C. 464 . Purpose of statute is to eliminate discrimination in employment for specified reasons, and it is only within these prescribed reasons that statute operates. 17 CS 93 . Not unfair employment practice for corporation employer to require complainant to work regular factory shifts although this would require work on a religious sabbath. 28 CS 341 . Annotations to present section: Cited. 193 C. 558 ; 195 Conn. 226 ; 196 C. 208 ; 202 Conn. 601 ; Id., 609; 211 C. 129 ; 226 Conn. 670 ; 232 Conn. 91 ; 236 Conn. 96 ; Id., 681; 238 Conn. 337 . Sec. 46a-100 represents an unambiguous waiver of sovereign immunity, authorizing actions against the state for alleged discriminatory employment practices in violation of section; claims properly brought before the commission are outside the cognizance of Claims Commissioner. 291 C. 384 . Cited. 16 CA 379 ; 40 CA 577 . Plaintiff provided no authority or per se rule equating violation of section with intentional infliction of emotional distress and court was not inclined to create such a rule. 61 CA 108 . To ensure compliance with the purpose of the Fair Employment Practices Act, a teacher who is discharged for any of the reasons enumerated in Sec. 10-151(d) must be afforded the protections of this section. 142 CA 248. Cited. 39 CS 528 . Actions brought under section may include actions brought against police departments. 50 CS 420 . Subsec. (a): Subdiv. (1): Good faith not exculpatory under statute; target of fair employment legislation is the effect, not the purpose, of discrimination. 188 Conn. 44 . Cited. 198 Conn. 479 ; 202 C. 150 ; 211 Conn. 464 ; 220 Conn. 307 ; 228 C. 545 ; 231 Conn. 328 . Subdiv. (1): Sec. 46a-86 does not authorize award of damages for emotional distress and attorneys' fees for violation of this section. 232 Conn. 91 . Cited. Id., 117; 236 C. 250 ; 237 Conn. 209 . Section does not expressly obligate employer to accommodate employee's work-at-home requests, or to refrain from taking adverse action against employee who persists in efforts to secure such arrangement. 249 C. 766 . Subdiv. (1) does not impose liability on individual employees. 259 C. 729 . Because Fair Employment Practices Act clearly expresses a public policy determination by legislature that employers with fewer than 3 employees shall be exempt from liability for discrimination on the basis of sex, including pregnancy-related discrimination, a common-law claim for wrongful discharge on the basis of pregnancy will not lie against such employers. 260 C. 691 . Trial court should not have remanded case to referee because employer was entitled to judgment as a matter of law where plaintiff was denied promotion because of failure to obtain same license as required for prior job occupants and where license requirement was a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason and not pretextual. 272 Conn. 457 . Subdiv. (1) imposes a duty on employers to provide reasonable accommodation to their disabled employees. 286 C. 390 . Plaintiff had no standing under statute because as a recipient of surviving spouse pension allowance, plaintiff was not within a class of persons statute was intended to protect; section pertains only to those persons who have sought or obtained an employment relationship with the employer alleged to have engaged in a discriminatory employment practice. 287 C. 56. Subdiv. (8): Arbitrator's interpretation of just cause provision of a collective bargaining agreement as barring the grievant's termination of employment for sexual harassment of a coworker violated the clear, well-defined and dominant public policy against sexual harassment in this state and the award was correctly vacated. 309 C. 519 . Subsec. prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals whom they regard as physically disabled. 314 C. 773. Cited. 4 CA 423 ; 5 CA 643 ; 18 CA 241 ; 27 CA 635 ; 35 Conn.App. 474 ; 38 Conn.App. 506 ; 41 CA 1 ; 44 Conn.App. 446 ; Id., 677. Federal standards reviewed for guidance in enforcing state antidiscrimination statutes; court held that defendant had provided plaintiff with reasonable accommodation. 57 Conn.App. 767 . Subdiv. (7): There is a public policy against sex discrimination in employment sufficiently expressed in statutory and constitutional law to permit a cause of action for wrongful discharge; although Sec. 46a-51(10) excludes many employers from the requirements of the act, the clear public policy against sex discrimination transcends the exclusion. 64 Conn.App. 573 . Company may be held liable for discrimination even where decision-making official did not intentionally discriminate if information used by that official in deciding to terminate a worker's employment was filtered through another employee who had a discriminatory motive. 72 CA 212 . Subdiv. (1): State's public policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disabilities is embodied in Subdiv. 81 CA 726 . Subdiv. (7): Trial court's finding of discriminatory practice affirmed, contrary to defendant's assertions, plaintiff's claim of discriminatory practice does not fail merely because evidence offered to prove defendant's violation of subparagraph arose out of an incident that is also arguably within purview of another subparagraph under same statutory subdivision. 88 CA 60 . Subsec. establishes a well-defined and dominant public policy against workplace sexual harassment and extends to the actions of an employee. 125 CA 408 . There is no claim under Subsec. for person regarded or perceived as disabled by employer. 137 Conn.App. 446 ; judgment reversed, see 314 C. 773.
See Sec. 1-1f for definitions of "blind" and "physically disabled". See Sec. 28-17 re prohibition against discharging employee for civil preparedness activity or eligibility for induction into armed services.