It is hereby prohibited for any department or agency of the State of Oklahoma, or any official or employee of the same for and on behalf of the State of Oklahoma: to refuse to employ or to discharge any person, otherwise qualified, on account of race, color, creed, national origin, age, handicap, or ancestry; to discriminate for the same reasons in regard to tenure, terms, or conditions of employment; to deny promotion or increase in compensation solely for these reasons; to publish an offer of employment based on such discrimination; to adopt or enforce any rule or employment policy which so discriminates as to any employee; or to seek such information as to any applicant or employee or to discriminate in the selection of personnel for training solely on such basis. These provisions shall be cumulative and in addition to existing laws relating to discrimination in the classified service.

It shall be the duty of the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission to investigate, upon its own initiative, upon complaint filed by any aggrieved person, or upon complaint filed by the Attorney General's Office of Civil Rights Enforcement, any violation of this section and to enforce compliance with the same, both in the classified and the nonclassified service. The Attorney General's Office of Civil Rights Enforcement shall investigate, upon its own initiative or on complaint filed with it, any such violation and may file a formal complaint with the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission. When any complaint is filed by the Attorney General with the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission, the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission shall set a hearing on the same, at which hearing the Attorney General, or his or her representative, may appear and present the finding of the Attorney General in regard to such violation. In the enforcement of this section, the Oklahoma Merit Protection Commission shall follow the provisions of existing laws relating to hearings, procedures, and notices, and shall have power to enforce its orders pertaining to violations of this section as is provided by law in regard to the classified service.

Added by Laws 1963, c. 322, § 4, emerg. eff. June 21, 1963. Amended by Laws 1982, c. 338, § 52, eff. July 1, 1982; Laws 1985, c. 165, § 20, eff. Nov. 1, 1985; Laws 1986, c. 158, § 26, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 2013, c. 214, § 31, emerg. eff. May 7, 2013.