213.055. Unlawful employment practices--exceptions. - Missouri Statutes

Unlawful employment practices--exceptions.

213.055. 1. It shall be an unlawful employment practice:

(1) For an employer, because of the race, color, religion, nationalorigin, sex, ancestry, age or disability of any individual:

(a) To fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual, orotherwise to discriminate against any individual with respect to hiscompensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because ofsuch individual's race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry,age or disability;

(b) To limit, segregate, or classify his employees or his employmentapplicants in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individualof employment opportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as anemployee, because of such individual's race, color, religion, nationalorigin, sex, ancestry, age or disability;

(2) For a labor organization to exclude or to expel from itsmembership any individual or to discriminate in any way against any of itsmembers or against any employer or any individual employed by an employerbecause of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age ordisability of any individual; or to limit, segregate, or classify itsmembership, or to classify or fail or refuse to refer for employment anyindividual, in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive anyindividual of employment opportunities, or would limit such employmentopportunities or otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee or asan applicant for employment, because of such individual's race, color,religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age or disability; or for anyemployer, labor organization, or joint labor-management committeecontrolling apprenticeship or other training or retraining, includingon-the-job training programs to discriminate against any individual becauseof his race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age ordisability in admission to, or employment in, any program established toprovide apprenticeship or other training;

(3) For any employer or employment agency to print or circulate orcause to be printed or circulated any statement, advertisement orpublication, or to use any form of application for employment or to makeany inquiry in connection with prospective employment, which expresses,directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification, or discrimination,because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age ordisability unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification or foran employment agency to fail or refuse to refer for employment, orotherwise to discriminate against, any individual because of his race,color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age as it relates toemployment, or disability, or to classify or refer for employment anyindividual on the basis of his race, color, religion, national origin, sex,ancestry, age or disability.

2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, it shall notbe an unlawful employment practice for an employer to apply differentstandards of compensation, or different terms, conditions or privileges ofemployment pursuant to a bona fide seniority or merit system, or a systemwhich measures earnings by quantity or quality of production or toemployees who work in different locations, provided that such differencesor such systems are not the result of an intention or a design todiscriminate, and are not used to discriminate, because of race, color,religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age or disability, nor shall itbe an unlawful employment practice for an employer to give and to act uponthe results of any professionally developed ability test, provided thatsuch test, its administration, or action upon the results thereof, is notdesigned, intended or used to discriminate because of race, color,religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age or disability.

3. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be interpreted to requireany employer, employment agency, labor organization, or jointlabor-management committee subject to this chapter to grant preferentialtreatment to any individual or to any group because of the race, color,religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, age or disability of suchindividual or group on account of an imbalance which may exist with respectto the total number or percentage of persons of any race, color, religion,national origin, sex, ancestry, age or disability employed by anyemployer, referred or classified for employment by any employment agency orlabor organization, admitted to membership or classified by any labororganization, or admitted to or employed in any apprenticeship or othertraining program, in comparison with the total number or percentage ofpersons of such race, color, religion, national origin, sex, ancestry, ageor disability in any community, state, section, or other area, or in theavailable workforce in any community, state, section, or other area.

4. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, it shall notbe an unlawful employment practice for the state or any politicalsubdivision of the state to comply with the provisions of 29 U.S.C. 623relating to employment as firefighters or law enforcement officers.

(L. 1986 S.B. 513, A.L. 1998 S.B. 786, A.L. 1999 H.B. 568)

(1994) Standards for finding punitive damages under Missouri statute are entirely different from standards for imposing liquidated damages under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Missouri law of punitive damages requires actual outrageousness. Not every willful violation of the ADEA involves outrageous conduct. Nelson v. Boatmen's Bancshares, Inc., 26 F.3d 796 (8th Cir.).