The West Virginia Human Rights Act protects individuals from being denied access or availability to establishments which offer services, goods, facilities, or accommodations to the general public because of their race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, age (40 and above), blindness and/or disability. The Human Rights Act excludes jails and correctional facilities from its definition of a place of public accommodation for persons interred within the facility.
As with the Fair Housing Act in West Virginia, the West Virginia Human Rights Act also protects individuals who oppose discrimination and/or complain about discriminatory practices to management within the company or to the West Virginia Human Rights Commission. The Act states that these are protected activities, for which an employer cannot retaliate against an employee for participating.