09/04/2026
Katie Muth invites you to the "Veterans' Expo 2026" in Oaks PA, September 12th. Visit Senatormuth.com/vetexpo to register.
VETERANS & EQUAL PROTECTION: PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS
What happens when discrimination occurs in a place that serves the public?
Restaurants, stores, hotels, theaters, recreational facilities, and many other businesses and facilities open to the public can fall within the concept of a public accommodation.
Pennsylvania’s Human Relations Act prohibits certain discrimination in public accommodations based on protected characteristics. However, veteran status, standing alone, is not independently listed among the PHRA’s protected-class bases for public accommodations.
That distinction is important.
A veteran who is denied access or treated differently because of a disability may have protections under applicable disability and civil-rights laws. But treatment based solely on veteran status is different: the PHRA does not independently identify veteran status as the protected basis.
Veterans may therefore have civil-rights protections because of another protected characteristic even when veteran status itself is not independently protected in that setting.
The reason someone is treated differently can determine which civil-rights law applies.
Building Understanding. Strengthening Community.
Source: Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), public-accommodation discrimination and complaint guidance.
*xpo2026
