The Kentucky Civil Rights Act, codified in Chapter 344 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations based on characteristics like race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age 40 and over, disability, and familial status.1Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.020 – Purposes and Construction of Chapter If someone violates your rights under the Act, you have two routes: file an administrative complaint with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights within 180 days, or sue in circuit court.
Who the Act Protects
KRS 344.020 declares the legislature’s intent to safeguard individuals from discrimination because of familial status, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age 40 and over, or status as a qualified individual with a disability. The statute aligns Kentucky’s protections with the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair Housing Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
“Disability” means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having one. Familial status covers households with children under 18, including parents, legal guardians, anyone who is pregnant, and anyone in the process of gaining custody of a child.2Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.010 – Definitions for Chapter Pregnancy and related medical conditions fall within sex-based protections.
Coverage varies by setting. Employment protections reach the widest range of categories, housing is close behind, and public accommodations are narrower. Read the section that applies to your situation before assuming you are covered.
Employment Protections
KRS 344.040 applies to any employer with eight or more employees within Kentucky for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year.3Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.030 – Definitions for KRS 344.030 to 344.110 That eight-employee floor is lower than the 15-employee threshold under federal Title VII, so smaller Kentucky businesses answer to state law even when federal law would leave them alone.
A covered employer cannot refuse to hire you, fire you, or treat you differently in pay, job conditions, or benefits because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age 40 and over, or disability.4Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.040 – Unlawful Discrimination by Employers Employers also cannot classify or segregate employees in ways that limit their opportunities on those grounds. The reach extends to employment agencies, which cannot refuse to refer or improperly classify candidates, and to licensing agencies, which cannot deny or revoke a license on protected grounds.5Justia Law. Kentucky Code 344.050 – Discrimination by Employment Agencies
Smokers and Nonsmokers
Kentucky law explicitly protects both smokers and nonsmokers in employment. An employer cannot refuse to hire you, fire you, or change your working conditions because you smoke or do not smoke, as long as you follow the company’s workplace smoking policy. Employers also cannot require you to abstain from tobacco products off the clock. The statute does allow employers to charge smokers different health plan contribution rates and to offer smoking cessation incentives.
Housing Protections
KRS 344.360 bars real estate operators, brokers, and salespersons from refusing to sell, rent, lease, or negotiate with any person because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, disability, or national origin.6Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.360 – Unlawful Housing Practices The law also prohibits discrimination in the terms or conditions of a sale or rental, misrepresenting a property as unavailable when it is in fact available, and refusing to let someone inspect a property based on protected status.
Steering, which means directing prospective buyers or renters toward or away from particular neighborhoods based on their background, is illegal. Related provisions reach discriminatory insurance practices, lending, and blockbusting.
One procedural note that trips people up: housing complaints filed with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights are not eligible for the agency’s standard mediation process.7Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. File a Complaint Housing cases follow a separate resolution track.
Public Accommodations
KRS 344.120 requires places of public accommodation, including restaurants, hotels, retail stores, and entertainment venues as defined in KRS 344.130, to provide full and equal enjoyment of their goods and services without regard to disability, race, color, religion, or national origin.8Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.120 – Refusal to Rent or Sell Public Accommodations Unlawful
The list here is shorter than in the employment and housing sections. Sex, age, and familial status are not covered. If you encounter discrimination in a public accommodation based on sex or age, federal law or a local ordinance may give you a path forward, but the state public accommodations statute will not.
Retaliation
KRS 344.280 makes it unlawful to retaliate against anyone who opposed a practice banned by Chapter 344, filed a complaint, testified, or participated in any investigation or hearing.9Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.280 – Conspiracy to Violate Chapter Unlawful It also bars aiding, encouraging, or coercing someone else into committing a discriminatory act, and obstructing the Commission.
In housing, the provision specifically protects anyone who exercises or encourages others to exercise fair housing rights under KRS 344.360 through 344.680. A landlord cannot evict you or raise your rent because you filed a housing discrimination complaint, and a neighbor or community member cannot be punished for backing your claim.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
You must file your complaint with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights within 180 days of the discriminatory act. Miss that window and the agency cannot accept the case, no matter how strong the facts.
Because Kentucky has a state civil rights enforcement agency with a worksharing agreement with the EEOC, the federal deadline for a related EEOC charge is extended from 180 days to 300 calendar days.10U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Time Limits for Filing a Charge That extended count includes weekends and holidays, though if the last day falls on a weekend or holiday, you have until the next business day. For ongoing harassment, the clock runs from the most recent incident.
If you later receive a federal Right to Sue notice from the EEOC, you have 90 days to file a lawsuit in court, and that deadline is strictly enforced.11U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Filing a Lawsuit For age discrimination claims, you can go directly to court 60 days after filing a charge with the EEOC without waiting for a Right to Sue notice. For Equal Pay Act claims, you can sue directly without filing a charge, within two years of the last discriminatory paycheck, or three years if the discrimination was willful.
How to File with the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights
When you contact the KCHR, an intake specialist reviews your information and decides whether the claim falls within the Commission’s jurisdiction.7Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. File a Complaint If it does, the agency sends you a formal complaint form.
Have this information ready before you make the call:
- The full legal name, mailing address, and phone number of the business or person you are accusing.
- Specific dates for every incident of discrimination, as precise as you can make them.
- A clear account of what happened, who was involved, and what was said or done.
- Copies of supporting evidence, such as emails, termination letters, lease denials, and witness contact information.
Once the form arrives, sign it and have it notarized before mailing it back. The notarization requirement is easy to miss and will delay your filing if skipped. Banks, shipping stores, and some libraries offer notary services at low or no cost. Your complaint is not formally filed until the Commission receives the signed and notarized form.
What Happens After You File
The Commission investigates and decides whether there is probable cause to believe a violation occurred. If it finds none, it issues a final order dismissing the complaint.12Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Kentucky Code 344.230 – Orders of Commission – Nature of Affirmative Action
For non-housing complaints, the Commission offers mediation before the investigation concludes if both sides agree to participate. A mediated settlement can include back pay, policy changes, or other agreed terms, without a formal hearing. Housing complaints, as noted earlier, skip this track.
If mediation fails or is declined and the investigation finds probable cause, the case goes to an administrative hearing. A hearing officer weighs the evidence and testimony, and the Commission issues a final order. If it finds the respondent engaged in an unlawful practice, the order can require hiring or reinstatement with back pay, damages for humiliation and embarrassment, compliance monitoring, and posting of notices in the respondent’s workplace.
Suing in Court
You are not confined to the administrative process. KRS 344.450 gives anyone injured by a violation of Chapter 344 a private right to sue in Kentucky Circuit Court. A successful plaintiff can recover actual damages, a court order stopping the discriminatory conduct, litigation costs, and a reasonable attorney’s fee. The fee-shifting provision matters in practice: it makes contingency representation more realistic, since the court can order the employer or landlord to pay the lawyer’s fee on top of the client’s damages.
Kentucky does not cap compensatory damages for state civil rights claims the way federal law does. Federal Title VII caps compensatory and punitive damages based on employer size, topping out at $300,000 for employers with more than 500 workers.13U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Remedies for Employment Discrimination For that reason, some plaintiffs prefer to bring their claims under state law, where recovery is not boxed in by the same ceiling.
Filing with the EEOC Instead or in Addition
The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights operates as a Fair Employment Practices Agency with a worksharing agreement with the EEOC. Filing a charge with one agency can satisfy the filing requirement for the other.14U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Fair Employment Practices Agencies (FEPAs) and Dual Filing File with the KCHR and your charge can be cross-filed with the EEOC, preserving the federal claim.
Dual filing extends your federal deadline to 300 calendar days, but do not treat that as extra time to delay. The state deadline is still 180 days, and if you intend to file only with the KCHR, the shorter clock controls. File as soon as your facts are organized.