3 34/Mary land Manual

representation from all areas of the State. A staff,
currently consisting of 70 authorized positions, is
employed to perform a variety of Commission ac-
tivities.

The Commission formulates general policy and
direction, acts upon programs and administrative
proposals, conducts public meetings, and pro-
motes Commission community presence and as-
sistance. It is authorized to eliminate discrimina-
tion based on race, color, national origin,
religion, sex, marital status, physical handicap,
mental handicap, or age. The Commission is
empowered to administer and enforce the Mary-
land Public Accommodations Law, Discrimina-
tion in Housing Law, and the Fair Employment
Practices Law. By Chapter 153, Acts of 1969, the
Commission was empowered to initiate com-
plaints and investigate complaints of discrimina-
tion in State agencies. Through its staff, the Com-
mission receives, investigates, and conciliates
complaints that allege violation of these laws. The
Commission has the power to conduct public
hearings, administer oaths, issue subpoenas, and
to compel the attendance or the testimony of
witnesses, the production of books, papers, re-
cords, and documents relevant or necessary for
proceeding under these laws, and to dismiss com-
plaints where evidence shows an absence of dis-
criminatory acts or to issue a cease and desist or-
der if evidence shows that a respondent has
engaged in a discriminatory act.

The Commission has the authority and power
to make such surveys and studies concerning hu-
man relations, conditions, and problems as it may
determine, and to promote in every way possible
the betterment of human relations. The Commis-
sion is further directed to promote in every way
possible the betterment of interracial relations,
submit legislative and administrative recommenda-
tions to the Governor in the field of human rela-
tions, and to oversee compliance with the Code of
Fair Practices as promulgated by the Governor.

The 1974 General Assembly made major
amendments to the law. Discrimination in hous-
ing on the basis of marital status and sex was
prohibited, and exceptions were provided with re-
spect to the application of certain provisions in
the Discrimination in Housing subtitle (Chapter
848). A second bill provided that it is unlawful
for persons and organizations to discriminate in
certain employment practices against persons who
are mentally or physically handicapped, to pro-
hibit certain discriminatory activities against the
physically or mentally handicapped in housing or
obtaining loans on dwellings, and to make techni-
cal corrections to the language (Chapter 601). A
parallel bill prohibited discriminatory activities in

By Chapter 419, Acts of 1975, the Commission
may seek certain types of court relief; namely, a
temporary injunction if the Commission believes
that appropriate civil action is necessary to pre-
serve the status of the parties or to prevent irrepa-
rable harm. Chapter 333, Acts of 1975, provides
that it is not an unlawful employment practice for
an employer to establish standards concerning an
employee's dress and grooming if the standards are
directly related to the nature of the employment.

By Chapters 937, 907, and 706, Acts of 1977, a
number of important changes in the law were
mandated. By Chapter 937, Acts of 1977, the leg-
islature reduced the size of the Commission from
12 members to 9, empowered the Commission to
designate its own Chairperson, and abolished the
previous $16,000 salary for the Chairperson. The
new legislation continues the appointment of the
Executive Director by the Governor, but provides
that he must choose from a list of five names sub-
mitted by the Commission and also provides for
the Executive Director's removal by the Governor
upon recommendation of two thirds of the mem-
bers of the Commission. The power of appoint-
ment and removal of the Deputy Director and
the General Counsel has been transferred from
the Governor to the Executive Director with ap-
proval by the majority of the Commission mem-
bers. The law also authorizes the appointment of
hearing examiners to hear cases under the Human
Relations law, and provides for an appeal from
the decisions of the hearing examiner to the Com-
mission. Finally, the new legislation expands the
Commission's power to order appropriate relief
for victims of discrimination by empowering the
Commission to award monetary relief, limited to
two years back pay, to victims of employment
discrimination.

In addition to these changes in MCHR's struc-
ture, procedures, and authority, by Chapter 907,
Acts of 1977, employers are required to treat
disabilities caused or contributed to by pregnancy
or childbirth in the same manner as they treat
other disabilities; and Chapter 505, Acts of 1980,
makes it unlawful to aid and abet or obstruct the
Commission from enforcing the provision of the
Act.

By Chapter 684, Acts of 1978, the Commission
was given jurisdiction over sex and age discrimi-
nation in public accommodations. Chapter 629,