Kentucky Revised Statutes

Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030 (2026)

Definitions for KRS 344.030 to 344.110

✓ current as of May 2026

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For the purposes of KRS 344.030 to 344.110: (1) "Qualified individual with a disability" means an individual with a disability as defined in KRS 344.010 who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the employment position that the individual holds or desires unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee's or prospective employee's disability without undue hardship on the conduct of the employers' business. Consideration shall be given to the employer's judgment as to what functions of a job are essential, and if an employer has prepared a written description before advertising or interviewing applicants for the job, this description shall be considered evidence of the essential functions of the job; (2) "Employer" means a person who has eight (8) or more employees within the state in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year and an agent of such a person, except for purposes of determining accommodations for an employee's own limitations related to her pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, employer means a person who has fifteen (15) or more employees within the state in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year and any agent of the person, and, except for purposes of determining discrimination based on disability, employer means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has fifteen (15) or more employees for each working day in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, and any agent of that person, except that, for two (2) years following July 14, 1992, an employer means a person engaged in an industry affecting commerce who has twenty-five (25) or more employees for each working day in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding year, and any agent of that person. For the purposes of determining discrimination based on disability, employer shall not include: (a) The United States, a corporation wholly owned by the government of the United States, or an Indian tribe; or (b) A bona fide private membership club (other than a labor organization) that is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986; (3) "Employment agency" means a person regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer and includes an agent of such person; (4) "Labor organization" means a labor organization and an agent of such an organization, and includes an organization of any kind, an agency or employee representation committee, group, association, or plan so engaged in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours, or other terms or conditions of employment, and a conference, general committee, joint or system board, or joint council so engaged which is subordinate to a national or international labor organization; (5) (a) "Employee" means an individual employed by an employer, but does not include an individual employed by his parents, spouse, or child, or an individual employed to render services as a domestic in the home of the employer. (b) Notwithstanding any voluntary agreement entered into between the United States Department of Labor and a franchisee, neither a franchisee nor a franchisee's employee shall be deemed to be an employee of the franchisor for any purpose under this chapter. (c) Notwithstanding any voluntary agreement entered into between the United States Department of Labor and a franchisor, neither a franchisor nor a franchisor's employee shall be deemed to be an employee of the franchisee for any purpose under this chapter. (d) For purposes of this subsection, "franchisee" and "franchisor" have the same meanings as in 16 C.F.R. sec. 436.1; (6) "Reasonable accommodation": (a) Means making existing facilities used by employees readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, appropriate adjustment or modifications of examinations, training materials or policies, the provision of qualified readers or interpreters, and other similar accommodations for individuals with disabilities; and (b) For an employee's own limitations related to her pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, may include more frequent or longer breaks, time off to recover from childbirth, acquisition or modification of equipment, appropriate seating, temporary transfer to a less strenuous or less hazardous position, job restructuring, light duty, modified work schedule, and private space that is not a bathroom for expressing breast milk; (7) "Religion" means all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that he is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business; (8) (a) The terms "because of sex" and "on the basis of sex" include but are not limited to because of or on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, and women affected by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions shall be treated the same for all employment-related purposes, including receipt of benefits under fringe benefit programs, as other persons not so affected but similar in their ability or inability to work. (b) "Related medical condition" includes but is not limited to lactation or the need to express breast milk for a nursing child and has the same meaning as in the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, 42 U.S.C. sec. 2000e(k), and shall be construed as that term has been construed under that Act; and (9) "Undue hardship," for purposes of disability discrimination or limitations due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions as described in KRS 344.040(1)(c), means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense, when considered in light of the following factors: (a) The nature and cost of the accommodation needed; (b) The overall financial resources of the facility or facilities involved in the provision of the reasonable accommodation; the number of persons employed at the facility; the effect on expenses and resources; or the impact otherwise of such accommodation upon the operation of the facility; (c) The overall financial resources of the covered entity; the overall size of the business of a covered entity with respect to the number of its employees; and the number, type, and location of its facilities; (d) The type of operation or operations of the covered entity, including the composition, structure, and functions of the workforce of such entity; the geographic separateness, administrative, or fiscal relationship of the facility or facilities in question to the covered entity; and (e) In addition to paragraphs (a) to (d) of this subsection, for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, the following factors: 1. The duration of the requested accommodation; and 2. Whether similar accommodations are required by policy to be made, have been made, or are being made for other employees due to any reason. Effective: June 27, 2019 History: Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 200, sec. 1, effective June 27, 2019. -- Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 24, sec. 5, effective June 29, 2017. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 378, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1994. – Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 282, sec. 4, effective July 14, 1992. -- Amended 1980 Ky. Acts ch. 245, sec. 3, effective July 15, 1980. -- Amended 1974 Ky. Acts ch. 187, sec. 1. -- Created 1966 Ky. Acts ch. 2, Art. 3, sec. 301. Legislative Research Commission Note (6/27/2019). 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 200, sec. 3, provides that 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 200 may be cited as the Kentucky Pregnant Workers Act. This statute was amended in Section 1 of that Act.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 71 cases (34 in the last 5 years), 1978–2026 · leading case: Cabinet for Families & Child. v. Cummings, 163 S.W.3d 425 (Ky. 2005).

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Cabinet for Families & Child. v. Cummings, 163 S.W.3d 425 (Ky. 2005). · cites it 12× “In Stewart , the Court of Appeals found that a graduate student and recipient of a Regent's Fellowship, which provided for a yearly stipend for study, was not an "employee" of the University for purposes of Kentucky's discrimination statute (KRS 344.030) and KRS 61.102. The…”

Palmer v. Int'l Ass'n of MacHinists & Aerospace Workers, 882 S.W.2d 117 (Ky. 1994). · cites it 6× “At the time of her complaint, the statute was numbered KRS 344.030(1). The statute limits the term "employer" to those persons who have at least eight employees within the State of Kentucky during each of the twenty or more calendar weeks during either the same year as the…”

Union Underwear Co., Inc. v. Barnhart, 50 S.W.3d 188 (Ky. 2001). · cites it 6× “030(2) makes Fruit of the Loom an "employer" for the purposes of KRS 344.030 to 344.100 and a "person" within the meaning of KRS 344.”

Ammerman v. Bd. of Educ., Nicholas Cnty., 30 S.W.3d 793 (Ky. 2000). · cites it 4× “010, and KRS 344.030; thereby to protect their interest in person dignity and freedom from humiliation, to make available to the state their full productive capacities, to secure the state against domestic strife and unrest which would menace its democratic institutions, to…”

Degener v. Hall Contracting Corp., 27 S.W.3d 775 (Ky. 2000). · cites it 4× “KRS 344.030(2) defines "employer" as: [A] person who has eight (8) or more employees within the state in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year and an agent of such person, except for purposes of determining discrimination based on…”

Dep't of Corr. v. Furr, 23 S.W.3d 615 (Ky. 2000). · cites it 4× “The very definition of "person" as adopted by our General Assembly specifically names the state as an employer for purposes of KRS Chapter 344, thus effecting a waiver of sovereign immunity by "overwhelming implication.”

Larison v. Home of the Innocents, 551 S.W.3d 36 (Ky. Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “KRS 344.030 provides: "Qualified individual with a disability" means an individual with a disability as defined in KRS 344.”

Bush v. Compass Grp. USA, Inc., 194 F. Supp. 3d 580 (W.D. Ky. 2016). · cites it 6× “§ 12111 (8); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(1). Bush admitted repeatedly during his deposition that he was unable to perform the job of chef manager, with or without accommodation.”

Lococo v. Barger, 958 F. Supp. 290 (E.D. Ky. 1997). · cites it 5× “Perry County Is An Employer Under KRS Chapter 844 Perry County and the Perry County officials argue that they should be dismissed from this action because they do not fit within the definition of “employer” under KRS 344.030. KRS 344.030(2) defines “employer” as “a person who…”

Perodeau v. City of Hartford, 18 I.E.R. Cas. (BNA) 848 (Conn. 2002). “person employing employees within the state”); Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 344.030 (2) (Michie 1997) (providing in relevant part that “ ‘[e]mployer’ means a person who has eight [8] or more employees within the state in each of twenty [20] or more calendar weeks in the current or…”

Howard v. City of Kansas City, 332 S.W.3d 772 (Mo. 2011). “The City also failed to expressly include the submissibility of future damages as an issue among the points listed in its motion for new trial.”

Noel v. Elk Brand Mfg. Co., 53 S.W.3d 95 (Ky. Ct. App. 2000). · cites it 2× “A question that arises is whether KRS 344.030(1), which defines a “qualified *106 person with a disability,” places the initial burden of showing a proposed accommodation is reasonable on the employee.”

Show all 71 citing cases →

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(1) — 9 cases

Bush v. Compass Grp. USA, Inc., 194 F. Supp. 3d 580 (W.D. Ky. 2016). “§ 12111 (8); Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(1). Bush admitted repeatedly during his deposition that he was unable to perform the job of chef manager, with or without accommodation.”

Noel v. Elk Brand Mfg. Co., 53 S.W.3d 95 (Ky. Ct. App. 2000). “A question that arises is whether KRS 344.030(1), which defines a “qualified *106 person with a disability,” places the initial burden of showing a proposed accommodation is reasonable on the employee.”

Palmer v. Int'l Ass'n of MacHinists & Aerospace Workers, 882 S.W.2d 117 (Ky. 1994). “At the time of her complaint, the statute was numbered KRS 344.030(1). The statute limits the term "employer" to those persons who have at least eight employees within the State of Kentucky during each of the twenty or more calendar weeks during either the same year as the…”

Marion Hughes v. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. (Ky. Ct. App. 2025).

UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Inc. v. Marion Hughes (Ky. Ct. App. 2025).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(2) — 28 cases

Cabinet for Families & Child. v. Cummings, 163 S.W.3d 425 (Ky. 2005). “In Stewart , the Court of Appeals found that a graduate student and recipient of a Regent's Fellowship, which provided for a yearly stipend for study, was not an "employee" of the University for purposes of Kentucky's discrimination statute (KRS 344.030) and KRS 61.102. The…”

Degener v. Hall Contracting Corp., 27 S.W.3d 775 (Ky. 2000). “KRS 344.030(2) defines "employer" as: [A] person who has eight (8) or more employees within the state in each of twenty (20) or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year and an agent of such person, except for purposes of determining discrimination based on…”

Dep't of Corr. v. Furr, 23 S.W.3d 615 (Ky. 2000). “The very definition of "person" as adopted by our General Assembly specifically names the state as an employer for purposes of KRS Chapter 344, thus effecting a waiver of sovereign immunity by "overwhelming implication.”

Ammerman v. Bd. of Educ., Nicholas Cnty., 30 S.W.3d 793 (Ky. 2000). “010, and KRS 344.030; thereby to protect their interest in person dignity and freedom from humiliation, to make available to the state their full productive capacities, to secure the state against domestic strife and unrest which would menace its democratic institutions, to…”

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(2)(b) — 1 case

Kreate v. Disabled Am. Vets., 33 S.W.3d 176 (Ky. Ct. App. 2000).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(3) — 1 case

Sanders v. Main Event Ent. (W.D. Ky. 2024).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(4) — 2 cases

Murphy v. Indus. Contractors Skanska Inc. (E.D. Ky. 2022).

Chancellor Anthony v. Kentucky Just. & Pub. Saf. Cabinet (Ky. Ct. App. 2023).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(5) — 8 cases

Union Underwear Co., Inc. v. Barnhart, 50 S.W.3d 188 (Ky. 2001). “030(2) makes Fruit of the Loom an "employer" for the purposes of KRS 344.030 to 344.100 and a "person" within the meaning of KRS 344.”

Stewart v. Univ. of Louisville, 65 S.W.3d 536 (Ky. Ct. App. 2001).

Kentucky Comm'n on Human Rights v. Commonwealth, Dep't for Human Resources, Hazelwood Hosp., 564 S.W.2d 38 (Ky. Ct. App. 1978).

Kearney v. City of Simpsonville, 209 S.W.3d 483 (Ky. Ct. App. 2006).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(5)(a) — 2 cases

Myranda Juarez v. Brooke Schilling (Ky. Ct. App. 2023).

Laura Pantoja v. Atomic Transp., LLC (Ky. Ct. App. 2024).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(6)(a) — 1 case

Taulbee v. Bell Cnty., Kentucky (E.D. Ky. 2022).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(6)(b) — 2 cases

Childers v. Casey Cnty. Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. (W.D. Ky. 2023).

Hamilton v. Tompkinsville Drugs, LLC (W.D. Ky. 2024).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(8) — 5 cases

Tiller v. Univ. of Kentucky, 55 S.W.3d 846 (Ky. Ct. App. 2001).

Bergman v. Baptist Healthcare Sys., Inc., 344 F. Supp. 2d 998 (W.D. Ky. 2004).

Turner v. Sullivan Univ. Sys., Inc., 420 F. Supp. 2d 773 (W.D. Ky. 2006).

Johnson v. Evolent Health LLC (W.D. Ky. 2021).

Ericka Peacock Johnson v. Evolent Health LLC (6th Cir. 2023).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(8)(a) — 4 cases

Carter v. Union Coll. (E.D. Ky. 2023).

Johnson v. Evolent Health LLC (W.D. Ky. 2022).

Myranda Juarez v. Brooke Schilling (Ky. Ct. App. 2023).

Ericka Peacock Johnson v. Evolent Health LLC (6th Cir. 2023).

— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 344.030(8)(b) — 1 case

Childers v. Casey Cnty. Sch. Dist. Bd. of Educ. (W.D. Ky. 2023).

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