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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 11-01-1993 - VII-C 1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS Action Agenda Item No. VA-C. ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: November 1 , 1993 SUBJECT: Report Regarding Proposed Civil Rights Ordinance DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC HEARING: Yes x No Human Relations Commission ATTACHMENT(S) : INFORMATION CONTACT: . Report Lucy Lewis , ext 2251 TELEPHONE NUMBER: Hillsborough - 732-8181 Chapel Hill - 968-4501 Durham - 688-7331 Mebane - 227-2031 PURPOSE: To provide information to the Board of County Commissioners about the status of the municipalities in regard to the proposed civil rights ordinance; and proposed ordinance revisions . The recommendation below calls for board action. BACKGROUND: The Board of Commissioners held a public hearing to receive public comment on the county' s proposed civil rights ordinance on Tuesday, September 14, 1993 . They received a report summarizing the Human Relations Commission (HRC) feedback at their October 19, 1993 meeting. RECOMMENDATION(S) : The Manager recommends that the Board pursue a course of action that results in a revised ordinance incorporating the items included in the attached report. This listing addresses the major comments that the Board, other local elected officials, and the public have had. The Manager recommends that the Board act as follows: 1) Direct staff to complete a revised draft of the ordinance, 2 ) At a future meeting, receive the revised ordinance and indicate the board' s intention to adopt the revised ordinance, 3 ) At that point, convey your intention to the other jurisdictions and ask for their positive response. 2 REPORT REGARDING THE PROPOSED CIVIL RIGHTS ORDINANCE This report will address two main issues : 1 . The status of Chapel Hill , Hillsborough, and Carrboro in relation to the proposed ordinance, and, 2 . Items to be considered for review, addition or change in the ordinance draft. Status of Municipalities It is our understanding that the Chapel Hill Town Council and Hillsborough Town Council will consider further action after the Board of County Commissioners comments or revisions are received. The Carrboro Board of Aldermen requested a brief presentation of the proposed ordinance for their October 5 , 1993 meeting . Commission for Women Interim Administrator Lucy Lewis made the presentation, and Lewis and Assistant County Attorney Mark Sheridan responded to questions . Alderman Bryan requested that the Town Attorney report on whether there is a way to have some panel other than the Orange County Human Relations Commission be responsible for enforcing the ordinance, what the criteria for reasonable cause are, and what training will be provided regarding reasonable cause determinations. The Board is waiting for the Town Attorney report before taking further action. Items for Consideration 1 . Article III , Definitions a) The inclusion of "marital status" broadens the ordinance coverage beyond the protected classes included in federal and state laws . This may be broader than the Board intended. "Marital status" should be deleted. b) "Familial status" as a protected class does not appear in the ordinance as presently drafted. It does appear in Title VII as well as in the North Carolina Fair Housing Act . The Ordinance will need to include this term as a protected class, and should use the term as it is defined in the two statutes mentioned immediately above, that is: " 'Familial status' means one or more persons who have not attained the age of 18 years being domiciled with: a. A parent or another person having legal custody of the person or persons; b. The designess of the parent or other person having custody, provided the designee has the written permission of the parent or other persons. The protection against discrimination on the basis of familial status shall apply to any person who is pregnant or is in the process of securing legal custody of any person who has not 3 attained the age of 18 years. " c ) "Covered multifamily dwellings" is defined only for purposes of determining whether or not buildings constructed on or after march 13 , 1991 are accessible to disabled individuals . The Ordinance definition should be modified to make it clear that common use areas must also be accessible to the disabled. The definition should be modified to read as follows : " ' Covered multifamily dwellings' means: a . A building, including all units and common use areas, in which there are four or more units if the building has one or more elevators; or, b. ground floor units and ground floor common use areas in a building with four or more units. " 2 . Article VII , Other Prohibited Discriminatory Acts The County Commissioners voted to delete this section on October 4 , 1993 . 3 . Article VIII , Enforcement, Subsec . 8 . 2 Reasonable Cause, Conciliation Efforts , and Right to Sue Letters A number of concerns have been raised regarding whether the Human Relations Commission members are required to make a reasonable cause determination in order to obtain substantial equivalency status with the federal agencies, how a reasonable cause determination would be made, the potential volume of reasonable cause determinations, and the qualifications of the volunteer Commission members for making this determination. Either Human Relations Commission members or staff may determine reasonable cause in order to qualify for substantial equivalency. The Ordinance should specify that a reasonable cause determination will be a staff responsibility. The Ordinance should provide an appeal process for a no cause determination, whereby the charging party could file with the Commission an application for reconsideration of the order dismissing the charge. 4 . VIII Enforcement, Sec . 8 . 3 . Referral to Office of Administrative Hearings , Subdiv. 8 . 3 . 1 . Hearings The Human Relations Commission members should review the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recommended decision and make a final decision, as stated in the current draft. The Ordinance should specify that a panel of Commission members would make the final decision, and that HRC members receive appropriate training by the NC Human Relations Commission as a prerequisite for serving on a panel . Such training would 4 include: ordinance coverage, how to prove if discrimination has occurred, and how to determine appropriate remedies if discrimination is proved. The Ordinance should include clarification regarding the Human Relations Commission review process . Specifically, before the Human Relations Commission makes a final decision, both parties should be provided the opportunity to file written exceptions to the ALJ decision and have the opportunity to make an oral argument before the Commission members who will be making a final - decision. 5 . Article VIII , Enforcement, Subsec . 8 . 3 Referral to Office of Administrative Hearings , Subdiv. 8 . 3 . 2 Remedies Regarding punitive damages , the ordinance should be revised to make it clear that, as in housing cases, there will be a cap on punitive damages predicated on the number of violations that the respondent has been adjudged to have committed in a prior preceding. 6 . Article VIII Enforcement The ordinance needs to be revised to clarify how enforcement of the following will occur: a ) enforcement of a negotiated settlement b) enforcement of a conciliation agreement c l enforcement of an award 7 . Make-up of the Human Relations Commission The HRC is considering by-laws changes to ensure geographic representation from all townships .