27.390 Rights of Individuals Protected.

(1) Discriminatory Practices Prohibited.

(a) A franchisee shall not deny service, deny access, or otherwise discriminate against subscribers, programmers or residents of the City on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or age.

(b) A franchisee shall not discriminate among persons or take any retaliatory action against a person because of that person’s exercise of any right it may have under Federal, State, or local law, nor may the franchisee require a person to waive such rights as a condition of taking service.

(c) A franchisee shall not deny access or levy different rates and charges on any group of potential residential cable subscribers because of the income of the residents of the local area in which such group resides.

(d) Except to the extent the City may not enforce such a requirement, a franchisee is prohibited from discriminating in its rates or charges or from granting undue preferences to any subscriber, potential subscriber, or group of subscribers or potential subscribers; provided, however, that a franchisee may offer temporary, bona fide promotional discounts in order to attract or maintain subscribers, so long as such discounts are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis to similar classes of subscribers throughout the City; and a franchisee may offer discounts for the elderly, the handicapped, or the economically disadvantaged, and such other discounts as it is expressly entitled to provide under Federal law, if such discounts are applied in a uniform and consistent manner. A franchisee shall comply at all times with all applicable Federal, State, and City laws, and all executive and administrative orders relating to nondiscrimination.

(2) Equal Employment Opportunity. A franchisee shall not refuse to employ, discharge from employment, or discriminate against any person in compensation or in terms, conditions, or privileges of employment because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or age. A franchisee shall comply with all Federal, State, and local laws and regulations governing equal employment opportunities.

(3) Subscriber Privacy.

(a) A franchisee shall at all times protect the privacy of all subscribers pursuant to the provisions of Section 631 of the Cable Act, 47 USC 551. A franchisee shall not condition subscriber service on the subscriber’s grant of permission to disclose information which, pursuant to Federal or State law, cannot be disclosed without the subscriber’s explicit consent.

(b) Neither a franchisee nor its agents or employees shall, without the prior and specific written authorization of the subscriber involved, sell or otherwise make available for commercial purposes the names, addresses, or telephone numbers of any subscriber or subscribers, or any information that identifies the individual viewing habits of any subscriber or subscribers.

[Prior code § 27.39]