Tampa Human Rights Ordinance — Tampa, Florida

The Tampa Human Rights Ordinance is Chapter 12 of the City of Tampa Code of Ordinances, titled Human Rights. According to the City of Tampa human rights laws page, the chapter is split by subject: Article II covers employment discrimination, Article III covers public accommodation, and Article IV covers discrimination in housing. Each article sits beside a parallel state law and a parallel federal law, so a single complaint filed in Tampa can be handled under more than one layer of civil rights protection.

The ordinance is enforced by the Tampa Office of Human Rights, known in city materials as TOHR. The office works out of 2555 E. Hanna Avenue, Suite 301, in Tampa, inside the city's Neighborhood and Community Affairs Administration. The Office of Human Rights page describes the work as impartial, unbiased investigation of discrimination complaints in employment, housing and public accommodations, plus voluntary mediation, and states that both services are free.

Chapter 12 is a city law, so it reaches only conduct inside Tampa city limits. A dispute at a business in an unincorporated part of Hillsborough County, or in a neighboring city, falls outside the ordinance and goes to the state or federal agencies instead. Inside the city, the Tampa Code reaches further than state law in two ways: it names more protected classes, and it covers smaller employers.

The City of Tampa public accommodations page sets out the local list in full: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, marital status and familial status. The Office of Human Rights FAQ adds retaliation, meaning adverse treatment because a person complained, testified or helped with a case. The same eleven classes appear in the Tampa Code's employment and housing articles.

Placing the Tampa list beside the Florida Civil Rights Act list on the same city page shows the gap. The state list for public accommodations names race, color, national origin, sex, disability, marital status, familial status and religion, but not sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or age. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is narrower still, with four classes. For a person in Tampa, the local ordinance is therefore the only one of the three that names sexual orientation and gender identity directly.

Two of the Tampa categories carry definitions on the city site. Familial status includes children under the age of 18 living with parents or legal guardians, pregnant women, and persons securing custody of children under 18. Disability means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having one.

Employment is the area where the Tampa Code differs most from federal law. The Employment Discrimination page explains that Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act and GINA apply to employers with 15 employees or more, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act to employers with 20 or more. Under the City of Tampa Human Rights Ordinance, an employer must have 5 or more employees. The employer must be located within Tampa city limits, and City of Tampa employees are covered by the ordinance as well.

The Tampa office lists the kinds of employment disputes it sees, among them termination, denied hiring, denied promotion, demotion, harassment, pregnancy, religious accommodations, pay comparability, involuntary retirement and retaliation. A complaint may name an employer, a labor union or an employment agency.

For public accommodations, Sections 12-61 to 12-68 of the Tampa Code list the places covered. They include hotels and motels serving transient guests, restaurants and lunch counters, retail stores, gasoline stations, theaters, bowling alleys and golf courses, sports arenas and stadiums, publicly funded libraries and schools, taxis and buses, barber and beauty shops, swimming pools, day-care centers, and any establishment holding a Florida alcoholic beverage license. A private membership club that is not open to the public is excluded. The unlawful practices named by the City of Tampa are refusing service, posting notices that a group is unwelcome, segregating a customer, and intimidating anyone who exercises these rights.

Disability adds a duty to accommodate. The City of Tampa states that a reasonable accommodation request may not be refused when it would grant access, and gives as examples permitting a service animal into a restaurant, building a ramp, and providing accessible parking. In housing, the Tampa FAQ lists discrimination in the sale or rental of housing or residential lots, in advertising, in financing, and in real estate brokerage services, for housing located within Tampa city limits.

A Tampa complaint starts with an intake questionnaire. The Human Rights FAQ says the forms for employment, housing and public accommodations can be completed online, printed, mailed, faxed or brought to the East Hanna Avenue office, with a Spanish questionnaire available for public accommodations. Completing the online questionnaire does not mean an official complaint has been filed. A staff member follows up by phone or mail, and once jurisdictional requirements are met the charge is filed under federal law, the Tampa Code, or both. There is no cost involved, and no legal representation is needed.

Timing is strict. The City of Tampa sets the filing window at no later than 180 days (6 months) from the date the discriminatory event occurred, while some housing discrimination complaints may be filed up to 1 year after the housing practice took place.

After filing, TOHR notifies both the Complainant and the Respondent by mail, sends each a copy of the charge, and invites both to mediation. The mediation page describes a voluntary, informal and confidential conference led by a neutral mediator who does not decide who is right or wrong, usually held at the Tampa Office of Human Rights at no charge. A signed Negotiated Settlement Agreement reached there is enforceable in court just like any other written contract. If mediation fails or one party declines, the Tampa FAQ says the charge goes to an unbiased, trained civil rights investigator.

During an investigation, the City of Tampa lists rights for the person who filed: to pursue the charge without retaliation, to know the investigator's name and the case status, to have witnesses submit statements, and to request a review by the Administrator of the Tampa Office of Human Rights, or by the EEOC Miami District Office. A Right to Sue letter may be requested once a case filed under federal or state law is more than 180 days old. Duties run the other way too: answering TOHR inquiries and reporting address changes, since a case may be dismissed otherwise.

The City of Tampa does not enforce Chapter 12 in isolation. Its laws page states that Tampa is a Fair Employment Practices Agency, or FEPA, under contract with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and a Fair Housing Assistance Program, or FHAP, under contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Those contracts are why a charge taken at the Tampa office can carry federal claims under Title VII, the ADA or the Fair Housing Act.

State law runs through the same office. The city page cites the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 for employment and public accommodation, and the Florida Fair Housing Act of 1983 for housing, and notes that Tampa may administer state claims as a deferred agency under Florida Statutes sections 760.11(1) and 760.34(3). A complaint about city services and programs for people with disabilities is a separate track: the Tampa FAQ routes Title II ADA grievances to the city's ADA Coordinator at 306 E. Jackson St., downtown.

The Tampa Human Rights Board is an advisory body. The Office of Human Rights page says the office serves as liaison to the board and describes it as a diverse group of Mayoral and City Council appointees that plays an essential role in city government. The city's Neighborhood and Community Affairs menu links the board's meeting minutes from the human rights section of the Tampa website.

Beyond casework, the Tampa Office of Human Rights runs workshops and seminars on employment, housing and public accommodations, publishes an anti-discrimination overview video in English and Spanish, and, per its contact page, keeps a Human Rights Intake Specialist available by phone at (813) 274-5835, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mayor Jane Castor is the 59th Mayor of the City of Tampa. Last verified: October 8, 2026, on the City of Tampa website.