On May 1, 2025, the Minneapolis City Council voted to amend anti-discrimination protections within the city's ordinance by adding three protected classes: (1) height and weight; (2) housing status; and (3) justice-impacted status. The ordinance applies to any person or business within the City of Minneapolis who hires or employs any employee, and any person or business, wherever located, who hires or employs any employee whose services are to be partially or wholly performed in the City of Minneapolis.
The new protected classes will prevent employers from using height and weight, housing status, or justice-impacted status as motivating factors for any adverse employment decisions, including decisions covering hiring and firing.
Under the amended ordinance, employees are still allowed to make decisions based upon height and weight if an individual's height or weight prevents them from performing a job's essential functions without a reasonable accommodation, treating height and weight in a similar manner to an employee's physical disability.
Importantly, "justice-impacted status" encompasses an employee or applicant's criminal record or history, including any arrest, charge, conviction, period of incarceration, or past or current probationary status.
Employers may still make adverse decisions reasonably based on the relationship between the underlying conduct of the criminal history or record and the ability, capacity, and fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the responsibilities of the position of employment or occupation, as long as the following factors are considered:
- Whether the individual was convicted of the offense;
- The length of time since the alleged offense or conviction;
- The nature and gravity of the crime(s);
- The age of the employee at the time the crime(s) was committed;
- Any evidence of rehabilitation efforts offered in support of the employee; and
- Any unreasonable risk to property or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general public.
Although the exception does not encompass decisions based on arrests that did not result in a conviction, for pending criminal matters an employer is not prohibited from making an adverse employment decision based on a reasonable consideration of the factors outlined above.
The justice-impacted protections also broadly still allows employers to make decisions based on justice-impacted status "when permitted by, and made in accordance with state or federal law, regulation, rule, or government contract," including, but not limited to, for positions that involve work with children and positions in law enforcement.
Policy Updates and Ordinance Compliance.
The ordinance amendment goes into effect on Aug. 1, 2025. Taft recommends that employers review current policies and practices related to hiring and performance management. Please reach out to a Taft Employment and Labor Relations attorney with any questions or for assistance in determining whether these recent changes affect company policies and practices.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
