Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-7. Unlawful employment practices
It shall be an unlawful employment practice:
(1) For any employer:
(i) To refuse to hire any applicant for employment because of his or her race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin;
(ii) Because of those reasons, to discharge an employee or discriminate against him or her with respect to hire, tenure, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, or any other matter directly or indirectly related to employment. However, if an insurer or employer extends insurance-related benefits to persons other than or in addition to the named employee, nothing in this subdivision shall require those benefits to be offered to unmarried partners of named employees;
(iii) In the recruiting of individuals for employment or in hiring them, to utilize any employment agency, placement service, training school or center, labor organization, or any other employee referring source that the employer knows, or has reasonable cause to know, discriminates against individuals because of their race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin;
(iv) To refuse to reasonably accommodate an employee’s or prospective employee’s disability unless the employer can demonstrate that the accommodation would pose a hardship on the employer’s program, enterprise, or business;
(v) When an employee has presented to the employer an internal complaint alleging harassment in the workplace on the basis of race or color, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or country of ancestral origin, to refuse to disclose in a timely manner in writing to that employee the disposition of the complaint, including a description of any action taken in resolution of the complaint; provided, however, no other personnel information shall be disclosed to the complainant; or
(vi) To require an employee as a condition of employment, to execute a nondisclosure agreement that requires alleged violations of civil rights remain confidential, or a non-disparagement agreement concerning alleged violations of civil rights or alleged unlawful conduct, or any agreement with a clause that requires alleged violations of civil rights remain confidential. Any contract provision in violation of this subsection shall be void as a violation of public policy;
(2)(i) For any employment agency to fail or refuse to properly classify or refer for employment or otherwise discriminate against any individual because of his or her race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin; or
(ii) For any employment agency, placement service, training school or center, labor organization, or any other employee referring source to comply with an employer’s request for the referral of job applicants if the request indicates, either directly or indirectly, that the employer will not afford full and equal employment opportunities to individuals regardless of their race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin;
(3) For any labor organization:
(i) To deny full and equal membership rights to any applicant for membership because of his or her race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin;
(ii) Because of those reasons, to deny a member full and equal membership rights, expel him or her from membership, or otherwise discriminate in any manner against him or her with respect to his or her hire, tenure, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, or any other matter directly or indirectly related to membership or employment, whether or not authorized or required by the constitution or bylaws of the labor organization or by a collective labor agreement or other contract;
(iii) To fail or refuse to classify properly or refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against any member because of his or her race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin; or
(iv) To refuse to reasonably accommodate a member’s or prospective member’s disability unless the labor organization can demonstrate that the accommodation would pose a hardship on the labor organization’s program, enterprise, or business;
(4) Except where based on a bona fide occupational qualification certified by the commission or where necessary to comply with any federal mandated affirmative action programs, for any employer or employment agency, labor organization, placement service, training school or center, or any other employee referring source, prior to employment or admission to membership of any individual, to:
(i) Elicit, or attempt to elicit, any information directly or indirectly pertaining to his or her race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin;
(ii) Make or keep a record of his or her race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin;
(iii) Use any form of application for employment, or personnel or membership blank containing questions or entries directly or indirectly pertaining to race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin;
(iv) Print or publish, or cause to be printed or published, any notice or advertisement relating to employment or membership indicating any preference, limitation, specification, or discrimination based upon race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin; or
(v) Establish, announce, or follow a policy of denying or limiting, through a quota system or otherwise, employment or membership opportunities of any group because of the race or color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or country of ancestral origin of that group;
(5) For any employer or employment agency, labor organization, placement service, training school or center, or any other employee referring source to discriminate in any manner against any individual because he or she has opposed any practice forbidden by this chapter, or because he or she has made a charge, testified, or assisted in any manner in any investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this chapter;
(6) For any person, whether or not an employer, employment agency, labor organization, or employee, to aid, abet, incite, compel, or coerce the doing of any act declared by this section to be an unlawful employment practice, or to obstruct or prevent any person from complying with the provisions of this chapter or any order issued pursuant to this chapter, or to attempt directly or indirectly to commit any act declared by this section to be an unlawful employment practice;
(7) For any employer to include on any application for employment, except applications for law enforcement agency positions or positions related to law enforcement agencies, a question inquiring or to otherwise inquire either orally or in writing whether the applicant has ever been arrested, charged with or convicted of any crime; provided, that:
(i) If a federal or state law or regulation creates a mandatory or presumptive disqualification from employment based on a person’s conviction of one or more specified criminal offenses, an employer may include a question or otherwise inquire whether the applicant has ever been convicted of any of those offenses; or
(ii) If a standard fidelity bond or an equivalent bond is required for the position for which the applicant is seeking employment and his or her conviction of one or more specified criminal offenses would disqualify the applicant from obtaining such a bond, an employer may include a question or otherwise inquire whether the applicant has ever been convicted of any of those offenses; and
(iii) Notwithstanding, any employer may ask an applicant for information about his or her criminal convictions at the first interview or thereafter, in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws;
(8)(i) For any person who or that, on June 7, 1988, is providing either by direct payment or by making contributions to a fringe benefit fund or insurance program, benefits in violation with §§ 28-5-6, 28-5-7 and 28-5-38, until the expiration of a period of one year from June 7, 1988, or if there is an applicable collective bargaining agreement in effect on June 7, 1988, until the termination of that agreement, in order to come into compliance with §§ 28-5-6, 28-5-7 and 28-5-38, to reduce the benefits or the compensation provided any employee on June 7, 1988, either directly or by failing to provide sufficient contributions to a fringe benefit fund or insurance program.
(ii) Where the costs of these benefits on June 7, 1988, are apportioned between employers and employees, the payments or contributions required to comply with §§ 28-5-6, 28-5-7 and 28-5-38 may be made by employers and employees in the same proportion.
(iii) Nothing in this section shall prevent the readjustment of benefits or compensation for reasons unrelated to compliance with §§ 28-5-6, 28-5-7 and 28-5-38.
History of Section.
P.L. 1949, ch. 2181, § 4; P.L. 1951, ch. 2735, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 28-5-7; P.L. 1973, ch. 132, § 1, impl. am. P.L. 1979, ch. 144, § 1; P.L. 1980, ch. 245, § 2, impl. am. P.L. 1981, ch. 167, § 1; P.L. 1982, ch. 299, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 98, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 198, § 15; P.L. 1987, ch. 494, § 1; P.L. 1988, ch. 310, § 2; P.L. 1993, ch. 126, § 2; P.L. 1995, ch. 32, § 4; P.L. 1995, ch. 235, § 1; P.L. 1997, ch. 150, § 4; P.L. 2001, ch. 340, § 3; P.L. 2003, ch. 131, § 2; P.L. 2003, ch. 131, § 2; P.L. 2003, ch. 173, § 2; P.L. 2013, ch. 309, § 2; P.L. 2013, ch. 413, § 2; P.L. 2023, ch. 252, § 1, effective June 22, 2023.
Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-7
- Age: means anyone who is at least forty (40) years of age. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Commission: means the Rhode Island commission against discrimination created by this chapter. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Confidential: means to remain secret and not to be disclosed to another person or entity. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Conviction: means , for the purposes of this chapter only, any verdict or finding of guilt after a criminal trial or any plea of guilty or nolo contendere to a criminal charge. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Disability: means a disability as defined in § 42-87-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Discriminate: includes segregate or separate. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Employee: means any person who has entered into the employment of or works under contract of service or apprenticeship with any employer, except that in the case of a city or town other than the city of Providence it shall only mean that class or those classes of employees as may be designated by a city, town, or regional school district in a manner provided in this chapter to receive compensation under chapters 29 — 38 of this title. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
- Employer: includes the state and all political subdivisions of the state and any person in this state employing four (4) or more individuals, and any person acting in the interest of an employer directly or indirectly. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Employment agency: includes any person undertaking, with or without compensation, to procure opportunities to work, or to procure, recruit, refer, or place employees. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Gender identity or expression: includes a person's actual or perceived gender, as well as a person's gender identity, gender-related self image, gender-related appearance, or gender-related expression; whether or not that gender identity, gender-related self image, gender-related appearance, or gender-related expression is different from that traditionally associated with the person's sex at birth. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Hardship: means an "undue hardship" as defined in Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- in writing: include printing, engraving, lithographing, and photo-lithographing, and all other representations of words in letters of the usual form. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-16
- Labor organization: includes any organization that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning grievances, terms or conditions of employment, or of other mutual aid or protection in relation to employment. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Non-disparagement agreement: means an agreement which restricts an individual from taking any action to include, but not be limited to, speaking or publicizing information that negatively impacts the other party to the agreement to include the reputation, products, services, employees, and management of the protected party. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Person: includes one or more individuals, partnerships, associations, organizations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy, or receivers. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Religion: includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer, union, or employment agency demonstrates that it is unable to reasonably accommodate to an employee's or prospective employee's or union member's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of its business. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6
- Sexual orientation: means having or being perceived as having an orientation for heterosexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-5-6