In this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

Age means individuals who are 40 years of age or older.

Commission means the Phoenix Commission on Human Relations.

Compensation means any payments irrespective of the time of payment, whether paid periodically or deferred until a later date, made to or on behalf of employees as remuneration for employment, including but not limited to wages, salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, retirement benefits, life insurance, sick pay, vacation and holiday pay, use of employer’s vehicles, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and other benefits.

Complainant means a person, including the Equal Opportunity Department, who files a complaint under this article.

Department means the City of Phoenix Equal Opportunity Department.

Disability means with respect to an individual, except any impairment caused by current use of illegal drugs, any of the following: a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of the individual, a record of such physical or mental impairment, or being regarded as having such physical or mental impairment. Disability and disability discrimination shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (as amended), the Federal regulations promulgated thereunder, and judicial decisions construing them.

Disabled individual. For the purpose of this chapter as applicable to employers or employment practices, a disabled individual is a person with a physical impairment who, with reasonable accommodations, is capable of performing the essential functions of the particular job in question within the normal operation of the employer’s business in terms of physical requirements, education, skill and experience.

Discriminate or discrimination means to make, directly or indirectly, any distinction with respect to any person or persons based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or disability.

Employee means any individual employed for pay to perform services for an employer covered by this article and whose activities are controlled and directed by the employer for whom the services are being performed.

Employer means a person doing business within the City of Phoenix who has one or more employees for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of such person, but, for purposes of this article, the term does not include:

Employment agency means any person regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for individuals opportunities to work for an employer and includes the employees of an employer charged with that responsibility.

Financial institution means any person or organization engaged in the business of lending money or guaranteeing loans.

Gender means the socially constructed roles, behaviors, characteristics, or attributes associated with masculinity or femininity.

Gender identity or expression means an individual’s self-identification as male, female, or something in between, and shall include the individual’s appearance, mannerisms, or other characteristics only insofar as they relate to gender, with or without regard to the individual’s designated sex at birth.

Genetic information means information about an individual’s genetic tests or the genetic tests of an individual’s family members, as well as information about any disease, disorder or condition of an individual or a member of an individual’s family. Genetic information does not include information that an individual currently has a disease or disorder. It does not include information about the sex or age of an individual or the individual’s family members. Genetic information also does not include tests for alcohol or drug use.

Genetic test means an analysis of human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites that detects genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal changes. It does not include an analysis of proteins or metabolites that does not detect genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal changes, or an analysis of proteins or metabolites that is directly related to a manifested disease, disorder, or pathological condition that could reasonably be detected by a health care professional with appropriate training and expertise in the field of medicine involved.

Labor organization means any person, group of persons or organization which is constituted for the purpose, either in whole or in part, of collective bargaining, dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment or any other terms or conditions of employment; any person, group of persons or organizations participating in the hiring or referring for hire of any person, receiving applications for apprenticeship, participating in or conducting an apprenticeship program; and any conference, general committee, joint or system board or joint council so engaged which is subordinate to a national or international labor organization.

Marital status means unmarried, married, separated, widowed or divorced.

National origin pertains to the country or nation of origin of an individual or any of his or her forebears and also includes characteristics generally identified with persons so originating.

Person means an individual or group of one or more individuals such as but not limited to labor unions, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees in bankruptcy or receivers, and any other commercial entity as well as an individual of flesh and blood. The term persons, when applied to any of the foregoing, includes members, representatives, officers and directors, agents, owners, lessees, operators, proprietors, managers, superintendents, and employees.

Places of accommodation means all public places of entertainment, amusement or recreation, all public places where food or beverages are sold, public places operated for the lodging of transients or for the benefit, use or accommodation of those seeking health or recreation and all establishments offering their services, facilities or goods to or soliciting patronage from the members of the general public. Any dwelling, any private club or any place which is in its nature distinctly private is not a place of public accommodation.

Reasonable accommodation means an accommodation which does not: (a) unduly disrupt or interfere with the employer’s normal operations; (b) threaten the health or safety of the disabled individual or others; (c) contradict the business necessity of the employer; (d) impose undue hardship on the employer based on the size of the employer’s business, the type of business, financial resources of the employer and the estimated cost and expense of the accommodation.

Religion means all aspects of religious observance and practice as well as belief.

Respondent means the person accused of a violation in a complaint filed under this article.

Sex means biological or anatomical sex as male or females as designated at birth and shall be interpreted broadly to include all distinctions based on gender, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.

Sexual orientation means an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes as well as the genders that accompany them and shall include discrimination based upon the identification, perception, or status of an individual’s same-sex, opposite-sex, or bisexual orientation. (Ord. No. G-1121, § 1; Ord. No. G-1900, § 1; Ord. No. G-3557, § 1; Ord. No. G-3558, § 1; Ord. No. G-5553, § 1, 2010; Ord. No. G-5780, 2013; Ord. No. G-6022, 2015)