28-1-9.  Exemptions.

Text

Nothing contained in the Human Rights Act [28-1-1 NMSA 1978] shall:

     A. apply to any single-family dwelling sold, leased, subleased or rented by an owner without the making of any notice, statement or advertisement with respect to the sale, lease, sublease or rental of a dwelling unit that indicates any preference, limitation or discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity. This exemption is subject to these further reservations:

          (1) to qualify for the exemption, the seller must not be an owner of or own or have reserved any interest in more than three single-family dwellings; and

          (2) if the seller does not currently live in the dwelling or he was not the most recent occupant, the exemption granted in this section shall only apply to one sale in twenty-four months;

     B. bar any religious or denominational institution or organization that is operated, supervised or controlled by or that is operated in connection with a religious or denominational organization from limiting admission to or giving preference to persons of the same religion or denomination or from making selections of buyers, lessees or tenants as are calculated by the organization or denomination to promote the religious or denominational principles for which it is established or maintained, unless membership in the religious or denominational organization is restricted on account of race, color, national origin or ancestry;

     C. bar any religious or denominational institution or organization that is operated, supervised or controlled by or that is operated in connection with a religious or denominational organization from imposing discriminatory employment or renting practices that are based upon sexual orientation or gender identity; provided, that the provisions of the Human Rights Act [28-1-1 NMSA 1978] with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity shall apply to any other:

          (1) for-profit activities of a religious or denominational institution or religious organization subject to the provisions of Section 511(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 USCS § 511(a)], as amended; or

          (2) nonprofit activities of a religious or denominational institution or religious organization subject to the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 [26 USCS 501(c)(3)], as amended;

     D. apply to rooms or units in dwellings containing living quarters occupied or intended to be occupied by no more than four families living independently of each other, if the owner actually maintains and occupies one of the living quarters as his residence;

     E. apply to public restrooms, public showers, public dressing facilities or sleeping quarters in public institutions, where the preference or limitation is based on sex; and

     F. prevent the mandatory retirement of an employee upon reaching the age of sixty-five years or older, if the employer is operating under a retirement plan that meets the requirements of Public Law 93-406, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 [29 USCS §§ 1001 et seq.].

History

HISTORY:
1953 4-33-8, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 196, § 8; 1973, ch. 58, § 2; 1975, ch. 78, § 1; 2003, ch. 383, § 4; 2004, ch. 115, § 2.

Annotations

Editor’s notes. 

Laws 2005, ch. 208, § 27, repealed 28-1-15 NMSA 1978 which would have repealed this section on July 1, 2006.

Amendment Notes. 

The 2004 amendment, effective July 1, 2004, deleted former Subsection G, relating to exemption of businesses that employ 14 or fewer employees.

Notes to Decisions

Constitutionality.

Remedies.

      Constitutionality.

New Mexico Human Rights Act is “generally applicable” for purposes of the Free Exercise Clause, notwithstanding the religious exemptions under this provision. Elane Photography, LLC v. Willock, 2013-NMSC-040, 309 P.3d 53, 2013 N.M. LEXIS 284 (N.M. 2013), cert. denied, 134 S. Ct. 1787, 188 L. Ed. 2d 757, 2014 U.S. LEXIS 2453 (U.S. 2014).

      Remedies.

Concerns addressed by the New Mexico Human Rights Act, 28-1-1 to 28-1-7 NMSA 1978 and 28-1-9 to 28-1-14 NMSA 1978 are quite different from those addressed by the workers’ compensation laws, and the way to maintain public policies against sexual harassment on the job is to pursue the common-law or statutory remedies available to promote these policies and not to engraft those policies on to a very different legislative scheme such as the Workers’ Compensation Act. Cox v. Chino Mines/Phelps Dodge, 1993-NMCA-036, 115 N.M. 335, 850 P.2d 1038, 1993 N.M. App. LEXIS 29 (N.M. Ct. App. 1993).