The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Montana
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Mont. Const. art. V; codified at Mont. Code Ann. 49-2-312 (Montana Human Rights Act)
- Issued
- 2021-05-07 May 7, 2021
- Effective
- 2021-05-07 ('effective on passage and approval', HB 702 sec. 6(1); appropriation section effective July 1, 2021) (read as 2021-05-07)
- End
- In force through Sept. 30, 2021 and beyond (health-care-facility application later enjoined in federal litigation, Dec. 2022; post-period) (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- May 7, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2021
- Quarters
- 2021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Workplace rulesVaccination or testing
- Addressees
- all persons and governmental entities
- all employers
- all public accommodations
- health care facilities (accommodation clause)
- Functions reached
- HR hiring and employment conditions (vaccination requirements prohibited)
- CB customers (vaccination-proof for entry prohibited)
- IC infection control (health care facilities limited to accommodation measures)
- WF
- Collection
- Montana MT
Operative words
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for: (a) a person or a governmental entity to refuse, withhold from, or deny to a person any local or state services, goods, facilities, advantages, privileges, licensing, educational opportunities, health care access, or employment opportunities based on the person's vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport; (b) an employer to refuse employment to a person, to bar a person from employment, or to discriminate against a person in compensation or in a term, condition, or privilege of employment based on the person's vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport; or (c) a public accommodation to exclude, limit, segregate, refuse to serve, or otherwise discriminate against a person based on the person's vaccination status or whether the person has an immunity passport.... (4) An individual may not be required to receive any vaccine whose use is allowed under an emergency use authorization or any vaccine undergoing safety trials.
Enforcement
Montana Human Rights Act complaint and remedies (Title 49, ch. 2, part 5); HB 702 sec. 2: licensed nursing homes, long-term care and assisted living facilities exempt while compliance 'would result in a violation of regulations or guidance issued by the centers for medicare and medicaid services or the centers for disease control and prevention'
Notes
Montana was the first State to make vaccination status a protected class; the statute in force all of Q3 2021 forbade the vaccination-proof and employer-mandate instruments other States adopted, and it is itself a governmental order constraining how every Montana employer and public accommodation operated
Retrieval noteCodified text (MCA 2025, showing 'En. Sec. 1, Ch. 418, L. 2021; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 728, L. 2025') read; the enrolled bill text (erd.dli.mt.gov/_docs/human-rights/HB0702.pdf) read for the effective-date and exemption sections; signing date from Montana Free Press and Ogletree (secondary).