Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 21 Sec. 710

  • 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.
  • employee: means an individual who has entered into the employment of, or works under contract of service or apprenticeship with, an employer. See
  • Employer: includes any body of persons, corporate or unincorporated, public or private, and the legal representative of a deceased employer, and includes the owner or lessee of premises or other person who is virtually the proprietor or operator of the business there carried on, but who, by reason of there being an independent contractor or for any other reason, is not the direct employer of the workers there employed. See
  • Employment: includes public employment, and, in the case of private employers, includes all employment in any trade or occupation notwithstanding that an employer may be a nonprofit corporation, institution, association, partnership, or proprietorship. See
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See

§ 710. Unlawful discrimination

(a) No person, firm, or corporation shall refuse to employ any applicant for employment because the applicant asserted a claim for workers’ compensation benefits under this chapter or under the law of any state or of the United States. Nothing in this section shall require a person to employ an applicant who does not meet the qualifications of the position sought.

(b) No person shall discharge or discriminate against an employee from employment because the employee asserted or attempted to assert a claim for benefits under this chapter or under the law of any state or of the United States.

(c) The Department shall not include in any publication or public report the name or contact information of any individual who has alleged that an employer has made a false statement or misclassified any employees, unless it is required by law or necessary to enable enforcement of this chapter.

(d) An employer shall not retaliate or take any other negative action against an individual because the employer knows or suspects that the individual has filed a complaint or reported a violation of this chapter, or has testified, assisted, or cooperated in any manner with the Department or other appropriate governmental agency or department in an investigation of misclassification, discrimination, or other violation of this chapter.

(e) The Attorney General or a State‘s Attorney may enforce the provisions of this section by restraining prohibited acts, seeking civil penalties, obtaining assurances of discontinuance, and conducting civil investigations in accordance with the procedures established in 9 V.S.A. §§ 24582461 as though a violation of this section were an unfair act in commerce.

(f) The provisions against retaliation in subdivision 495(a)(8) of this title and the penalty and enforcement provisions of section 495b of this title shall apply to this section. (Added 1985, No. 194 (Adj. Sess.), § 9; amended 2009, No. 142 (Adj. Sess.), § 8, eff. June 1, 2010; 2013, No. 31, § 9; 2017, No. 74, § 43; 2017, No. 148 (Adj. Sess.), § 1.)