Lehigh County Human Relations Ordinance: Veteran Status Protected

What it does. Ordinance 2024-106, adopted by the Board of Commissioners on February 14, 2024 and approved by the County Executive on February 20, 2024 under section 12.1 of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, creates the Lehigh County Human Relations Commission and forbids discrimination in employment, housing, education, health care and public accommodations because of any protected class, which section 201.39 defines to include veteran status. The State act does not protect veteran status, so this is a local right; Northampton County adopted a matching ordinance in 2026. When it applies. The ordinance's own section 14 says it takes effect on June 1, 2024 or 30 days after enactment, whichever is later, and for the Cities of Allentown and Bethlehem fifteen months after enactment unless either city opts out; the clerk's certificate attached to it gives March 1, 2024. Either way it has been in force across the county, Allentown and Bethlehem included unless they opted out, since May 2025. How to complain. File within 180 days of the act, in person at the Department of Community and Economic Development or online on the Commission's site (Ordinance 2024-138 moved filing there from Human Resources). The Commission meets on the second Tuesday of each month.