# Minnesota Human Rights Act *Minnesota anti-discrimination statute, Minn. Stat. ch. 363A, under which the Minnesota Department of Human Rights receives charges and makes probable-cause findings.* The **Minnesota Human Rights Act** (MHRA) is the [[Minnesota]] anti-discrimination statute codified as chapter 363A of Minnesota Statutes.[^1] Its definitions section, §363A.03, enumerates the protected classes, and gender identity is among them.[^2] The [[Minnesota Department of Human Rights]] (MDHR) takes charges under the Act. Its April 27, 2022 investigation report found "probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act."[^3] That finding is the predicate for a court-enforceable settlement agreement between the MDHR and the [[City of Minneapolis]]. The agreement was filed July 13, 2023 in Hennepin County District Court as No. 27-CV-23-4177, and it was open as of the case record.[^4][^5] The Act is also one of the claims in a 2019 federal suit against [[Eastern Carver County Schools]], as described in a press release on the plaintiffs' behalf and in news coverage.[^6][^7] On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21 under the title *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^8] The record for this article does not state whether that complaint invokes chapter 363A. ## Text and history Section 363A.03 contains the Act's definitions of protected classes, including gender identity.[^2] The project's validated claim:link rows date the gender-identity addition to 1993 and attribute its signing to Carlson. The session law or enrolled bill that would establish that date and signature is not in the record.[^2] In the project's validated claim:link set, chapter 363A or §363A.03 is cited under six legal theories: - Title VII disparate treatment - Title IX - Fourteenth Amendment equal protection - the First Amendment - civil RICO - procedural due process under *Mathews v. Eldridge* One of these rows describes the chapter as "the MDHR charge architecture."[^1][^2] ## Enforcement: MDHR and the City of Minneapolis An MDHR charge against the City of Minneapolis was filed June 1, 2020. The department issued its probable-cause finding on April 27, 2022, finding a pattern or practice of race discrimination by the City and the Minneapolis Police Department in violation of the Act.[^3] The settlement agreement (see [[Minnesota Department of Human Rights v. City of Minneapolis (court-enforceable settlement agreement)]]) was filed July 13, 2023 in Hennepin County District Court, No. 27-CV-23-4177. It rests on the Act and the April 27, 2022 finding.[^4][^5] Under the case record, the matter ends only on a judicial finding of full, effective and sustained compliance. ELEFA has served as [[independent evaluator]] since March 18, 2024.[^4][^5] ## Other litigation invoking the Act *T.B., et al. v. Independent School District 112 a/k/a Eastern Carver County Schools*, No. 0:19-cv-02414, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on September 3, 2019. It pleads claims under [[Title VI]], the Minnesota Human Rights Act and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.[^6] According to the press release issued for the plaintiff families from [[Chaska]] and to news coverage, the suit alleges race discrimination by the district.[^6][^7][^9] The record for this article does not carry the suit's current status. ## Federal action The Department of Justice's release No. 26-21, dated January 14, 2026, announces a lawsuit against the State. In its title, the release uses the United States' term for the State's apparatus: Minnesota's "'Affirmative Action' Regime."[^8] The release records that Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^8] The record here does not carry the complaint's docket, the statutes it quotes, or its status. Nor does it state whether the MHRA is among the instruments the complaint challenges. ## In the Minnesota record ### What - The MHRA is codified at Minn. Stat. ch. 363A.[^1] - Section 363A.03 contains the definitions of protected classes, including gender identity.[^2] ### Who - The MDHR takes charges under the Act and issued the April 27, 2022 probable-cause finding against the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department.[^3] ### When - June 1, 2020: an MDHR charge was filed against the City of Minneapolis.[^3] - April 27, 2022: the MDHR issued its probable-cause finding.[^3] - July 13, 2023: the settlement agreement was filed as No. 27-CV-23-4177.[^4][^5] - March 18, 2024: ELEFA began serving as independent evaluator.[^4][^5] - 1993: the project's claim:link rows give this year for the gender-identity addition; the session law is not in the record.[^2] ### Where - The Minneapolis settlement is enforced in Hennepin County District Court.[^4][^5] - The Eastern Carver County suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.[^6] ### How - In the Minneapolis matter, the record shows three steps: a charge (June 1, 2020), an investigation ending in a probable-cause finding (April 27, 2022), and a court-enforceable settlement (July 13, 2023).[^3][^4] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. ch. 363A, Minnesota Human Rights Act* — codification of the Act; cited in the project's claim:link rows under Theories 7, 9 and 12. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A [^2]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. § 363A.03, Definitions* — definitions of protected classes including gender identity; the project's claim:link rows (nos. 5, 43, 35) date the gender-identity addition to 1993 and attribute its signing to Carlson. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.03 [^3]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (Apr. 27, 2022) — June 1, 2020 charge; probable-cause finding of a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the MHRA. https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf [^4]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Minnesota Department of Human Rights* (agency site) — primary source listed for No. 27-CV-23-4177: filing date, instrument, open status, termination condition, independent evaluator. https://mn.gov/mdhr/ [^5]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *Minnesota Department of Human Rights v. City of Minneapolis*, case 18178 — case summary of the settlement agreement, its status and the independent evaluator. https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^6]: PR Newswire, *Chaska families … file federal civil rights lawsuit against Eastern Carver County School District* — press release on the plaintiffs' behalf announcing No. 0:19-cv-02414 (D. Minn., filed Sept. 3, 2019) under Title VI, the MHRA and § 1983. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chaska-families-represented-by-nichols-kaster-pllp-and-madia-law-llc-file-federal-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-eastern-carver-county-school-district-for-rampant-race-discrimination-300910956.html [^7]: Star Tribune, *Lawsuit: suburban Minnesota school district turned blind eye to racist bullying* — news coverage of the Eastern Carver County suit. https://www.startribune.com/lawsuit-suburban-minnesota-school-district-turned-blind-eye-to-racist-bullying/559289722 [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — release title; Attorney General Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^9]: KARE 11, *Federal lawsuit claims Eastern Carver County Schools ignored blatant incidents of racism* — news coverage of the Eastern Carver County suit. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/breaking-the-news/federal-lawsuit-claims-eastern-carver-county-schools-ignored-blatant-incidents-of-racism/89-1281ac9e-95df-4c35-a326-0f5f3044d70b