Human Rights Department

“...to promote equal opportunity and democratic rights, and to protect human rights of persons in Tulsa against discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability marital status or familial status, through advisory, educational and enforcement services…”

The HUMAN RIGHTS DEPARTMENT (HRD) is the City of Tulsa department, created by Title 5 of the City of Tulsa Revised Ordinances, that receives and investigates complaints of discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations.HRD is responsible for assuring compliance of City contractors by monitoring their hiring, labor standards, EEO, and Affirmative Action practices.

The Department uses two approaches to accomplish the objectives of the Ordinance: proactive and enforcement. The proactive approach to implementing the Ordinance is handled through the Community involvement Coordinator by encouraging community support and awareness of human and civil rights programs. This is the public relations an educational unit of the department. This unit takes the proactive approach by making presentations of our educational programs schools, churches, businesses, and civic organizations. In addition, the unit conducts special projects, surveys, seminars, public service announcements and participation in various community meetings and activities. This unit also work closely with the Human Rights Commission, Mayor’s Commission on the Status of Women, and Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission, Mayor’s Commission on the Concerns of Persons With Disabilities, Greater Tulsa Area Hispanic Affairs Commission, and to assess the needs of the community. The Investigative & Enforcement Division enforces the Ordinance through the investigation of complaints received which allege discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.  This involves coordinating a system to receive, test, file, and investigate the complaint, in order to make a recommendation of “probable cause” or “no probable cause” to the Director. If the Director rule there is probable cause to believe the discrimination occurred, an attempt is made to eliminate the violation by bringing parties together in a conciliation agreement. 

For more information please contact us at (918) 596-7818 or by e-mail.  Mailing address: Human Rights Department, 200 Civic Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 74103 - One Technology Center, 8th Floor