DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES

Charlotte City Code ch. 12, art. IV

in effect

Charlotte City Code § 12-81 Unlawful acts.

Sec. 12-81. - Unlawful acts. It shall be unlawful for a person or for two or more persons to conspire to: (1) Discriminate against a person because he has opposed a discriminatory practice in a place of public accommodation, or because he has made a charge, filed a complaint, testified, assisted or participated in a proceeding or hearing under this chapter. (2) Aid, abet, incite, or coerce a person to engage in a discriminatory practice in a place of public accommodation. (3) Wilfully interfere with the performance of a duty or the exercise of a duty by the community relations committee created by article II of this chapter or one of its members or representatives. (4) Wilfully obstruct or prevent a person from complying with this chapter or an order issued under this chapter. (Code 1985, § 12-51; Ord. No. 8194, § 2, 12-19-2016; Ord. No. 8195, § 1, 12-21-2016)

Charlotte City Code § 12-82 Attempt to commit discriminatory practice.

Sec. 12-82. - Attempt to commit discriminatory practice. An attempt to commit, directly or indirectly, a discriminatory practice in a place of public accommodation is a discriminatory practice. (Code 1985, § 12-52; Ord. No. 8194, § 2, 12-19-2016; Ord. No. 8195, § 1, 12-21-2016)

Charlotte City Code § 12-83 Prohibited employment discrimination.

Sec. 12-83. - Prohibited employment discrimination. It shall be unlawful for any employer because of the protected class of any person, to fail or refuse to hire, discharge or otherwise discriminate against that person with respect to hire, tenure, promotion, transfer, compensation, terms, conditions, position or privileges of employment, or any matter directly or indirectly related to employment. (a) All complaints of violation of this section shall be received by the conciliation division of the community relations committee. (b) In lieu of commencing its review of the complaint as set forth in section 12-31 of this chapter, the conciliation division may, at its discretion, require complaints alleging violation of this section, to first be submitted to the applicable federal or state authority for review and appropriate action. Should the applicable federal or state authority determine that it does not have jurisdiction or authority over the subject matter of the complaint, the conciliation division shall commence its review of the complaint as set forth in article II of this chapter. (Ord. No. 115, § 4, 8-9-2021)

Charlotte City Code § 12-84 Exemptions to section 12-83.

Sec. 12-84. - Exemptions to section 12-83. Notwithstanding the foregoing the following are not discriminatory practices prohibited under article IV of this chapter: (a) A religious organization that employs an individual to perform work associated with the religious organization that insists employees adhere to the tenets of the religious organization as a condition of employment. An employee may express the employee's sincerely held religious or moral beliefs and commitments in the workplace in a reasonable, non-disruptive and non-harassing way on equal terms with similar types of expression of beliefs or commitments allowed by the employer in the workplace, unless the expression is in direct conflict with the essential business related interests or needs of the employer. (b) Nothing in this article shall require an employer to hire or retain unqualified individuals or to retain employees when there is a legitimate non-discriminatory or non-retaliatory reason to terminate employment. (c) Nothing in this article shall prohibit an employer from requiring an employee during the employee's hours of work to adhere to reasonable dress or grooming standards that are due to a business necessity and that are not prohibited by federal, state or local law. (d) An employer that observes the conditions of bona fide seniority system or affirmative action plan that is not a pretext to evade the purposes of this article. An affirmative action plan is any plan devised to effectuate remedial or corrective action taken in response to past discriminatory practices against a historically marginalized group, or as otherwise required by federal or state law. (Ord. No. 115, § 4, 8-9-2021)

Source: City of Charlotte, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/nc/charlotte/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH12HURE_ARTIVDIPRFetched: 10/27/2026