Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.003

Purpose of ORS chapter 659A

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORSoregonlegislature.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

659A.003 Purpose of ORS chapter 659A. The purpose of this chapter is to encourage the fullest utilization of the available workforce by removing arbitrary standards of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, age or disability as a barrier to employment of the inhabitants of this state, and to ensure the human dignity of all people within this state and protect their health, safety and morals from the consequences of intergroup hostility, tensions and practices of unlawful discrimination of any kind based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, age, disability or familial status. To accomplish this purpose, the Legislative Assembly intends by this chapter to provide:

(1) A program of public education calculated to eliminate attitudes upon which practices of unlawful discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, age, disability or familial status are based.

(2) An adequate remedy for persons aggrieved by certain acts of unlawful discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, disability or familial status, or unreasonable acts of discrimination in employment based upon age.

(3) An adequate administrative machinery for the orderly resolution of complaints of unlawful discrimination through a procedure involving investigation and conference, mediation, conciliation, persuasion or other alternative dispute resolution processes, to encourage the use in good faith of the machinery by all parties to a complaint of unlawful discrimination and to discourage unilateral action that makes moot the outcome of final administrative or judicial determination on the merits of the complaint. [Formerly 659.022; 2005 c.22 §467; 2007 c.100 §2; 2007 c.903 §1a; 2021 c.367 §33; 2025 c.22 §8]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2006–2026 · leading case: Richardson v. Northwest Christian University

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Richardson v. Northwest Christian University (2017) ord · cites it 2× “The purpose of Oregon’s discrimination law is to remove “arbitrary standards” and to “ensure the human dignity of all people within this state and protect their health, safety, and morals from the consequences of intergroup hostility, tensions, and practices.”

Beaver v. NPC International, Inc. (2006) ord “ORS 659A.003. In light of the distinct purposes of the two statutory chapters, claims seeking redress for workplace injuries arise under the workers’compensation laws in ORS chapter 656, while claims alleging discrimination for exercising the rights outlined in ORS chapter 656…”

O'Donnell v. Ameresco, Inc. (2024) ord · cites it 9× “Further, plaintiff references ORS § 659A.003, which describes the legislative purpose of ORS § 659A.”

Zarda v. Altitude Express, Inc. (2018) · cites it 2× “Law § 296 (New York); Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.003 (Oregon); R.I. Gen.”

Chapman v. Goodwill of Lane and South Coast Counties (2024) ord · cites it 2× “and Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.003. Notice of Removal Ex.”

Kimmie Jackson v. City of Yachats (2025) ord · cites it 2× “2d at 1201 (quoting ORS 659A.003); see also Palmer v. Bi-Mart Co.”

Mirkovic v. Tenasys Corp. (2026) orctapp “ORS 659A.003(2) states that a purpose of the chap- ter is to provide an “adequate remedy for persons aggrieved by certain acts of unlawful discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, disability or…”

— Or. Rev. Stat. § 659A.003(2) — 3 cases

O'Donnell v. Ameresco, Inc. (2024) ord “Further, plaintiff references ORS § 659A.003, which describes the legislative purpose of ORS § 659A.”

Kimmie Jackson v. City of Yachats (2025) ord “2d at 1201 (quoting ORS 659A.003); see also Palmer v. Bi-Mart Co.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.