Military Status as a Protected Class

Military status is a protected class under a few state employment discrimination laws.  In other words,  it’s like race, sex, national origin, religion, age and disability.  Don’t hold me to this as a complete list, but it appears that states presently making military status a protected class include Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, New York, Washington and Wisconsin.  As noted below, Ohio will be added to the list shortly. 

Also remember that some states make “veterans status” a protected class and that the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) provides those in the military with certain protections when it comes to employment.

A bill making “military status” a protected class under the Ohio Civil Rights Act will become effective on March 23, 2008.  Please check out a release from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission below for more details.

“On December 24, 2007, Governor Ted Strickland signed into law House Bill 372, which adds ‘military status’ as a protected class to the employment, housing and public accommodations provisions of the Ohio Civil Rights Act. The term ‘military status’ -defined as a person’s status in ‘service in the uniformed services’ -means ‘the performance of duty, on a voluntary or involuntary basis, in a uniformed service, under competent authority.’ This includes active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty for training, inactive duty for training, full-time national guard duty, and performance of duty or training by a member of the Ohio organized militia.“According to the Ohio branch of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (a staff group within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs), they received complaints from 74 members of the Ohio Guard and Reserve alleging discrimination on the basis of military status. At a time when a significant number of troops are leaving or returning to employment as a result of being called to active duty, many facing unfair treatment in the workplace, it is even more important to ensure that no member of the military is denied employment or loses a job because of a selfless decision to serve and protect this Nation.”

This prohibition against military status discrimination becomes effective on March 23, 2008.

The Columbus Dispatch also discusses other aspects of the Ohio law in a recent article.