New Hampshire has adopted a law that creates a private cause of action for discrimination based on hairstyles related to a person’s ethnicity.
On July 3, 2024, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu signed HB 1169-FN. The law adopts a version of the Model CROWN Act (“Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair”), which has been adopted in some version by 25 other U.S. states. A more detailed description of the Model CROWN Act can be found here.
No Discrimination in Employment
The new law, RSA 275:37-e, provides that no person will be subjected to discrimination in employment because such person wears a protective hairstyle, which means hairstyles or hair types, including braids, locs, tight coils or curls, corn rows, Bantu knots, Afros, twists, and head wraps. If someone is subjected to such discrimination, that person will have a private cause of action and will be exempt from the jurisdiction of the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights and the provisions of RSA 354-A. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is exempt from the application of this law and does not need to comply.
No Discrimination in Public Schools
In addition, the new law amends RSA 193:38 to provide that no one can be excluded from participation in, denied benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination in public schools because of their age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, marital status, familial status, disability, religion, or national origin. Race means immutable traits associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Anyone who alleges discrimination under this provision (including the New Hampshire Attorney General) may initiate a civil action against a school or school district in superior court for legal or equitable relief, or with the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights.
Next Steps for Employers
The New Hampshire law will take effect on September 1, 2024. Employers should review their business’s handbook to ensure the handbook does not reflect any hair related bias in policies such as grooming or dress codes and they should update such handbook to include hair-based protections in the definition of protected categories in their anti-discrimination and harassment policies.
Please contact any member of the McLane Middleton Employment Law Practice Group for further guidance on the new law. We will provide further updates on this new law as such updates develop.