Section 26:2H-12.102 - Prohibited actions by staffa. Except as provided in subsection b. of this section, a long-term care facility and long-term care facility staff shall be prohibited from taking any of the following actions based in whole or in part on a person's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, intersex status, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status:(1) denying admission to a long-term care facility, transferring or refusing to transfer a resident within a facility or to another facility, or discharging or evicting a resident from a facility;(2) denying a request by residents to share a room;(3) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (5) of subsection (e) of 42 CFR s. 483.10, where rooms are assigned by gender, assigning, reassigning, or refusing to assign a room to a transgender or non-binary resident other than in accordance with the transgender or undesignated/non-binary resident's gender identity, unless at the transgender or undesignated/non-binary resident's request;(4) prohibiting a resident from using, or harassing a resident who seeks to use or does use, a restroom available to other persons of the same gender identity, regardless of whether the resident is making a gender transition, has taken or is taking hormones, has undergone gender affirmation surgery, or presents as gender-nonconforming. For the purposes of this paragraph, harassment includes, but is not limited to, requiring a resident to show identity documents in order to gain entrance to a restroom available to other persons of the same gender identity;(5) repeatedly failing to use a resident's chosen name or pronouns after being clearly informed of the chosen name or pronouns;(6) denying a resident the right to wear or be dressed in clothing, accessories, or cosmetics or to engage in grooming practices that are permitted to any other resident;(7) restricting a resident's right to associate with other residents or with visitors, including the right to consensual sexual relations;(8) denying or restricting medical or nonmedical care that is appropriate to a resident's organs and bodily needs, or providing medical or nonmedical care that, to a similarly-situated, reasonable person, unduly demeans the resident's dignity or causes avoidable discomfort; or(9) refuse or willfully fail to provide any service, care, or reasonable accommodation to a resident or an applicant for services or care.b. The requirements of this act shall not apply to the extent that compliance with the requirement is incompatible with any professionally-reasonable clinical judgment.c. Each facility shall post the following notice alongside its current nondiscrimination policy and alongside its written materials providing notice of resident rights pursuant to N.J.A.C.8:39-4.1, in all places and on all materials where that policy or those written materials are posted: "(Name of facility) does not discriminate and does not permit discrimination, including, but not limited to, bullying, abuse, or harassment, on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, intersex status, or HIV status, or based on association with another individual on account of that individual's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, intersex status, or HIV status. You may file a complaint with the Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, (provide current contact information), if you believe you have experienced this kind of discrimination."
Added by L. 2021, c. 33,s. 2, eff. 8/30/2021.