Vermont Statutes Title 9 Sec. 4506
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 9 Sec. 4506
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
- 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.
- Person: shall include any natural person, corporation, municipality, the State of Vermont or any department, agency, or subdivision of the State, and any partnership, unincorporated association, or other legal entity. See
- Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
§ 4506. Enforcement; civil action; retaliation prohibited
(a) A person aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may file a charge of discrimination with the Human Rights Commission pursuant to chapter 141 of this title or may bring an action for injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages and any other appropriate relief in the Superior Court of the county in which the violation is alleged to have occurred.
(b) The court may award costs and reasonable attorney’s fees to an aggrieved person who prevails in an action brought under subsection (a) of this section.
(c) The Human Rights Commission may bring an action in the name of the Commission to enforce the provisions of this chapter in accordance with its powers established in chapter 141 of this title.
(d) The initiation or completion of an investigation by the Human Rights Commission shall not be a condition precedent to the filing of any lawsuit for violation of this chapter.
(e) A person shall not coerce, threaten, interfere, or otherwise discriminate against any individual who:
(1) has opposed any act or practice that is prohibited under section 4502 or 4503 of this title;
(2) has lodged a complaint or has testified, assisted, or participated in any manner with the Human Rights Commission in an investigation of acts or practices prohibited by this chapter;
(3) is known by the person to be about to lodge a complaint, testify, assist, or participate in any manner in an investigation of acts or practices prohibited by this chapter;
(4) is exercising or enjoying a right granted or protected by this chapter; or
(5) is believed by the person to have acted as described in subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection. (Added 1987, No. 74, § 1; amended 1987, No. 253 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1989, No. 89, § 4; 2013, No. 31, § 12; 2015, No. 9, § 2, eff. April 16, 2015; 2021, No. 20, § 44.)