Terms Used In Delaware Code > Title 19 > Chapter 7 > Subchapter II - Discrimination in Employment

• Age: as used in this subchapter means the age of 40 or more years of age. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• Charging party: means any individual or the Department who initiates proceedings by the filing of a verified charge of discrimination, and who preserves a cause of action in Superior Court by exhausting the administrative remedies pursuant to the provisions of § 714 of this title. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Child: means a person who has not reached the age of 18 years. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Credit Score: A number, roughly between 300 and 800, that measures an individual's credit worthiness. The most well-known type of credit score is the FICO score. This score represents the answer from a mathematical formula that assigns numerical values to various pieces of information in your credit report. ^{Source: OCC}
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Domestic violence: means the same as defined in § 1041 of Title 10, verified by an official document, such as a court order, or by a reliable third-party professional, including a law-enforcement agency or officer, a domestic violence or domestic abuse service provider, or health-care provider. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Employee: means an individual employed by an employer, but does not include:

  a. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710

• Employer: means any person employing 4 or more employees within the State at the time of the alleged violation, including the State or any political subdivision or board, department, commission or school district thereof. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Employment agency: means any person regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure employees for an employer or to procure for employees opportunities to work for an employer and includes an agent of such a person. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• equity security: when used in this chapter means any stock or similar security or any security convertible, with or without consideration, into such a security or carrying any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase such a security, or any such warrant or right, or any other security which the Commissioner deems to be of similar nature and considers necessary or appropriate, by such rules and regulations as the Commissioner may prescribe in the public interest or for the protection of investors, to treat as an equity security. See Delaware Code Title 18 Sec. 5102
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Family responsibilities: means the obligations of an employee to care for any family member who would qualify as a covered family member under the Family and Medical Leave Act [26 U. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Gender identity: means a gender-related identity, appearance, expression or behavior of a person, regardless of the person's assigned sex at birth. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Labor organization: includes any organization of any kind, any agency or employee representation committee, group, association or plan so engaged in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours or other terms or conditions of employment, any conference, general committee, joint or system board or joint council so engaged which is subordinate to a national or international labor organization. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Lawsuit: A legal action started by a plaintiff against a defendant based on a complaint that the defendant failed to perform a legal duty, resulting in harm to the plaintiff.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• No cause determination: means that the Department has completed its investigation and found that there is no reasonable cause to believe that an unlawful employment practice has occurred or is occurring. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Person: includes 1 or more individuals, labor unions, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy or receivers. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Pregnancy: means pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition, including, but not limited to, lactation. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Prosecute: To charge someone with a crime. A prosecutor tries a criminal case on behalf of the government.
• Protective hairstyle: includes braids, locks, and twists. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Public employer: means the State of Delaware, its agencies, or political subdivisions. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Race: includes traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and a protective hairstyle. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• real property: is synonymous with the phrase "lands, tenements and hereditaments. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Reasonable accommodation: has the meaning given this term in § 722 of this title, except that all references to disability shall instead be references to known limitations of a person related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Reasonable cause determination: means that the Department has completed its investigation and found reasonable cause to believe that an unlawful employment practice has occurred or is occurring. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Religion: as used in this subchapter includes all aspects of religious observance and practice, as well as belief, unless an employer demonstrates that the employer is unable to reasonably accommodate an employee's or prospective employee's religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's business. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Reproductive health decision: means any decision related to the use or intended use of a particular drug, device, or medical service, including the use or intended use of contraception or fertility control or the planned or intended initiation or termination of a pregnancy. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Respondent: means any person named in the Charge of Discrimination, including but not limited to employers, employment agencies, labor organizations, joint labor-management committees, controlling apprenticeship or other training programs including on-the-job training programs. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Secretary: means the Secretary of the Department of Labor or the Secretary's designee. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Sexual offense: means the same as defined in § 761 of Title 11, verified by an official document, such as a court order, or by a reliable third-party professional, including a law-enforcement agency or officer, a domestic violence or domestic abuse service provider, or health-care provider. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Sexual orientation: includes heterosexuality, homosexuality, or bisexuality. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• Stalking: means the same as in § 1312 of Title 11, verified by an official document, such as a court order, or by a reliable third-party professional, including a law-enforcement agency or officer, a sexual assault service provider, or health-care provider. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Undue hardship: means an action requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of factors such as: the nature and cost of the accommodation; the overall financial resources of the employer; the overall size of the business of the employer with respect to the number of employees, and the number, type and location of its facilities; and the effect on expenses and resources or the impact otherwise of such accommodation upon the operation of the employer. See Delaware Code Title 19 Sec. 710
• United States: includes its territories and possessions and the District of Columbia. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
• Year: means a calendar year, and is equivalent to the words "year of our Lord. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302