SENATE BILL 187

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

David Ulibarri

FOR THE LEGISLATIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

AN ACT

RELATING TO HUMAN RIGHTS; AMENDING THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT TO REFLECT CURRENT FEDERAL LAW REGARDING THE RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     Section 1. Section 28-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 196, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

     "28-1-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Human Rights Act:

          A. "person" means one or more individuals, a partnership, association, organization, corporation, joint venture, legal representative, trustees, receivers or the state and all of its political subdivisions;

          B. "employer" means any person employing four or more persons and any person acting for an employer;

          C. "commission" means the human rights commission;

          D. "contact lens" means a lens to be worn on the anterior segment of the human eye to correct visual acuity or eliminate refractive error of the eye;

          [D.] E. "director" or "bureau" means the human rights bureau of the labor relations division of the workforce solutions department;

          [E.] F. "employee" means any person in the employ of an employer or an applicant for employment;

          [F.] G. "labor organization" means any organization that exists for the purpose in whole or in part of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning grievances, terms or conditions of employment or of other mutual aid or protection in connection with employment;

          H. "low-vision device" means a device that enhances, magnifies or otherwise augments human vision;

          [G.] I. "employment agency" means any person regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure opportunities to work or to procure, recruit or refer employees;

          J. "ordinary eyeglasses" means an exterior optical device using ophthalmic lenses for the correction or relief of disturbances in and anomalies of human vision;

          [H.] K. "public accommodation" means any establishment that provides or offers its services, facilities, accommodations or goods to the public, but does not include a bona fide private club or other place or establishment that is by its nature and use distinctly private;

          [I.] L. "housing accommodation" means any building or portion of a building that is constructed or to be constructed, which is used or intended for use as the residence or sleeping place of any individual;

          [J.] M. "real property" means lands, leaseholds or commercial or industrial buildings, whether constructed or to be constructed, offered for sale or rent, and any land rented or leased for the use, parking or storage of house trailers;

          [K.] N. "secretary" means the secretary of workforce solutions;

          [L.] O. "unlawful discriminatory practices" means those unlawful practices and acts specified in Section 28-1-7 NMSA 1978;

          [M.] P. "physical or mental handicap" means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities with an actual or expected duration of more than six months. A person is also considered to be physically or mentally handicapped if the person has a record of a physical or mental handicap or is regarded as having a physical or mental handicap. An individual is regarded as having a physical or mental handicap if the individual establishes that the individual has been subjected to an action prohibited under the Human Rights Act because of an actual or perceived physical or mental handicap, whether or not the handicap limits or is perceived to limit a major life activity. The ameliorative effects of ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses shall be considered in determining whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity. An impairment is regarded as substantially limiting a major life activity without regard to the ameliorative effects of the following mitigating measures:

                (1) medication; medical supplies, equipment or appliances; low-vision devices; prosthetics, including limbs and devices; hearing aids and cochlear implants or other implantable hearing devices; mobility devices; or oxygen therapy equipment and supplies;

                (2) the use of assistive technology;

                (3) reasonable accommodations or auxiliary aids or services; and

                (4) learned behavioral or adaptive neurological modifications;

          [N.] Q. "major life activities" means functions [such as] that include, but are not limited to, caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating and working. "Major life activities" also includes the operation of a major bodily function, including but not limited to functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and reproductive functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working;

          [O.] R. "applicant for employment" means a person applying for a position as an employee;

          [P.] S. "sexual orientation" means heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality, whether actual or perceived; and

          [Q.] T. "gender identity" means a person's self-perception, or perception of that person by another, of the person's identity as a male or female based upon the person's appearance, behavior or physical characteristics that are in accord with or opposed to the person's physical anatomy, chromosomal sex or sex at birth."

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