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Council amends and passes updated human-relations ordinance; adds protection for natural hair, removes county references
Summary
Allentown City Council approved amendments and final passage of Bill 46 to update the Human Relations chapter, removing county-specific language, clarifying commission authority and adding a prohibition on discrimination based on natural hair or hairstyle.
The Allentown City Council voted unanimously to amend and then pass Bill 46, an ordinance repealing and replacing Chapter 27 (Discrimination and Human Relations Commission) with updated provisions, expanded protected classes and revised enforcement language.
Councilwoman Gerlach proposed four housekeeping amendments that staff had circulated in the agenda packet. The changes remove county-specific numbering and references that were mistakenly carried over from the county ordinance, clarify that the commission "is hereby vested with the authority to administer and enforce the City of Allentown Human Relations Ordinance" and allow the commission to retain outside legal counsel for complaints while requiring that outside counsel agree to city standards and insurance requirements and notify the Board of Commissioners in writing.
A city solicitor explained that the deletions remove county code numbers (for example, references to sections 704 and 705) and an erroneous citation to a county ordinance number that does not apply to the city. The solicitor said the revisions align the city ordinance with the Lehigh County ordinance where appropriate and update the city's own ordinance.
The updated ordinance also adds a new protected characteristic: it makes it illegal to discriminate or harass a person in employment, housing, public accommodation, education or health care based on their natural hair or hairstyle so long as the natural hair or hairstyle poses no danger and does not impede job performance.
Council voted to adopt the proposed amendments and then voted to pass the bill on final reading; the chair announced the amendment passed and the bill passed by voice vote counts reported as seven ayes and no nays.
Members of the public who spoke during the item asked for clarity about the deletions; the solicitor and staff explained the changes were editorial and the product of aligning language with the county ordinance where needed. Councilmembers said the changes were intended as housekeeping and to strengthen local protections.
The ordinance will replace the existing Chapter 27 language and grant the Human Relations Commission clarified authority and administrative support, and it includes the added protection for natural hair and hairstyle.
