Your Rights in Public Accommodations

Prohibited Practices in Public Accommodations

Under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, public accommodations is a protected area, and it is illegal to treat you differently in this area because of your: race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, disability, sexual orientation.

With limited exceptions, the following actions constitute a violation the Human Rights Act in public accommodations when, because of your protected class status,

businesses, entertainment providers, transportation facilities, etc., whose goods, services and, facilities are extended, offered, sold, or otherwise made available to the public:

Unfairly deny the full and equal enjoyment of the entity's goods, services, and facilities based on a person’s protected characteristics.

Fail to provide a reasonable accommodation to the known physical, sensory, or mental disability of a disabled person.

Violations of state or local building codes are not violations of the MHRA and must be enforced under normal building code procedures.

For an owner, operator, or manager of a hotel, restaurant, public conveyance, or other public place to prohibit a blind or deaf person or a person with a physical or sensory disability from taking a service animal into the public place or conveyance if the service animal can be properly identified as being from a recognized program which trains service animals.

Significant Exemptions in Public Accommodations

1. Respondents that may be exempt under one or more circumstances include the following:
   1. An accommodation that maintains separate restrooms, locker rooms, and similar places, relating to sex.
   2. Employees or volunteers of non public service organizations whose primary function is providing occasional services to minors, such as youth organizations, with respect to qualifications based on sexual orientation.
2. Restrictions relating to sex do not apply to restricting membership on an athletic team or in a program or event to participants of one sex if the restriction is necessary to preserve the unique character of the team, program, or event and it would not substantially reduce comparable athletic opportunities for the other sex.