Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws > Chapter 28-6 - Wage Discrimination Based on Sex

• Age: means anyone who is at least forty (40) years of age. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Comparable work: means work that requires substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and is performed under similar working conditions. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Department: means the department of labor and training. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-29-2
• Director: means the director of labor and training. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17
• Employee: means any person as defined in § 28-14-1. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17
• Employer: includes any person acting in the interest of an employer directly or indirectly. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17
• Employment: means any employment under contract of hire, expressed or implied, written or oral, including all contracts entered into by helpers and assistants of employees, whether paid by employer or employee, if employed with the knowledge, actual or constructive, of the employer in which all or the greater part of the work is to be performed within the state. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• 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.
• 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
• 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.
• person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Wage: means all amounts at which the labor or service rendered is recompensed, whether the amount is fixed or ascertained on a time, task, piece, commission basis, or other method of calculating the amount, and includes benefits. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17
• Wage history: means the wages paid to an applicant for employment by the applicant's current employer and/or previous employer or employers. See Rhode Island General Laws 28-6-17