Terms Used In Vermont Statutes > Title 21 > Chapter 5 - Employment Practices

• Adult student: means a resident of this State, of any age, who has completed high school and who needs additional career technical education for entry into the labor force or who needs to upgrade skills to qualify for higher pay or for more dependable employment. See
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Affected employees: means employees who may be expected to experience an employment loss as a consequence of a proposed or actual business closing or mass layoff by their employer. See
• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Affirmed: In the practice of the appellate courts, the decree or order is declared valid and will stand as rendered in the lower court.
• Agency service fee: means a fee deducted by an employer from the salary or wages of an employee who is not a member of an employee organization, which is paid to the employee organization that is the exclusive bargaining agent for the bargaining unit of the employee. See
• Agricultural custom service vehicle: means a motor truck used on a farm for planting, harvesting, or transporting crops or waste products produced on the farm that is owned by a person providing custom services who is not a farmer as defined in 32 V. See
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• 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.
• Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
• Applicant for employment: means an individual seeking or being sought for employment with an employer. See
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• ASV: means any non-highway recreational vehicle, except a snowmobile, when used for cross-country travel on trails or on any one of the following or combination of the following: land, water, snow, ice, marsh, swampland, and natural terrain. See
• Auction dealer: means a person who is authorized to do business in this State and is engaged in the sale of motor vehicles at public auction subject to the provisions of sections 451, 458, 459, 463, and 466-468 of this title. See
• Autocycle: means a three-wheeled motorcycle:

• Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
• 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.
• Bargaining unit: means a group of employees recognized by the municipal employer or certified by the Board as appropriate for exclusive representation by an employee organization for purposes of collective bargaining. See
• battery electric vehicle: means a motor vehicle that can only be powered by an electric motor drawing current from a rechargeable energy storage system; and

• between: as used in this title in respect to a specified age of a student, shall mean the period of time commencing on the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age first specified and ending on the day next preceding the birthday of the child when he or she becomes the age last specified. See
• Board: means the State Labor Relations Board established by 3 V. See
• Board: means the State Labor Relations Board established under 3 V. See
• Board: means the Board established in section 952 of this title. See
• Business closing: means :

• Carrying capacity of a motor truck: shall be deemed to be the heaviest net load to be carried. See
• Category I special purpose vehicle: means a vehicle that is used exclusively as a back hoe, bucket loader, grader, truck shovel (wheeled excavator), street sweeper, or forklift truck. See
• Category II special purpose vehicle: means a vehicle that is used exclusively as a truck crane, wrecker, concrete form truck, concrete pumper truck, bituminous distributor, calcium chloride distributor, full or semi-flotation applicator, well driller tender truck (these vehicles may tow a pickup truck), permanently mounted well drilling machine, road oiler, water tanker used for dust control, or a truck used to transport a building by use of a "transportation dolly" as defined in subdivision 4(54) of this title. See
• Collector: means an individual certified by a U. See
• Combined time off: means a policy wherein the employer provides time off from work for vacation, sickness, or personal reasons, and the employee has the option to use all of the leave for whatever purpose he or she chooses. See
• Commercial fleet inspection station: shall mean a company or business that has been designated by the Commissioner as an official commercial fleet inspection station, provided it has 10 or more motor vehicles registered in the name of the company or business and meets all the requirements for designation as an official inspection station. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor or designee. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor. See
• Commissioner: shall mean in this title only the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Labor. See
• Commissioner: means the Commissioner of Public Safety. See
• Common law: The legal system that originated in England and is now in use in the United States. It is based on judicial decisions rather than legislative action.
• company: means a person that uses a digital network to connect riders to drivers who provide prearranged rides. See
• compensation: means payment in any form except reimbursement for mileage or the normal salary paid to a person otherwise employed by the school. See
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Comprehensive high school: means a public or independent school other than a career technical center that provides secondary career technical education approved under section 1533 of this title. See
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Conviction: means an unvacated final adjudication of guilt, or a final determination that a person has violated or failed to comply with the law in a court of original jurisdiction or an authorized administrative tribunal, an unvacated forfeiture of bail or collateral deposited to secure the person's appearance in court, the payment of a fine or court cost, or violation of a condition of release without bail, regardless of whether or not the penalty is rebated, suspended, or probated. See
• Cooperative use transportation: means the collective nonprofit use by two or more persons of privately owned vehicles when providing transportation is not the primary business of the owner of the vehicle or driver of the vehicle, or both, but is incidental to his or her livelihood. See
• 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 report: A detailed report of an individual's credit history prepared by a credit bureau and used by a lender in determining a loan applicant's creditworthiness. ^{Source: OCC}
• 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}
• Crime victim: means any of the following:

• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dealer: means a person, partnership, corporation, or other entity engaged in the business of selling or exchanging new or used motor vehicles, snowmobiles, motorboats, or all-terrain vehicles. See
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Department: means the Department of Labor. See
• Department: means the Department of Labor. See
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Designated laboratory: means a laboratory designated by the Department of Health under section 518 of this title. See
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Disqualification: means a withdrawal of the privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle. See
• Division: means the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired. See
• Domestic: when applied to a corporation, company, association, or copartnership shall mean organized under the laws of this State; "foreign" when so applied, shall mean organized under the laws of another state, government, or country. See
• driver: means an individual who:

• Drug: means a drug listed or classified by the U. See
• Drug test: means the procedure of taking and analyzing body fluids or materials from the body for the purpose of detecting the presence of a regulated drug as defined in 18 Vt. See
• Earned sick time: means discretionary time earned and accrued under the provisions of this subchapter and used by an employee to take time off from work for the purposes listed in subdivisions 483(a)(1)-(5) of this subchapter. See
• Eight-light system: shall mean four alternately flashing red signal lamps, two at the front and two at the rear, to operate automatically when a school bus is stopped and four alternately flashing amber signal lamps, two at the front and two at the rear, to be operated by the driver at an appropriate distance before stopping the bus. See
• Electorate: means the qualified voters in a school district voting at a properly warned school district meeting. See
• Electric bicycle: means a bicycle equipped with fully operable pedals, a saddle or seat for the rider, and an electric motor of less than 750 watts that meets the requirements of one of the following three classes:

• Electronic funds transfer: The transfer of money between accounts by consumer electronic systems-such as automated teller machines (ATMs) and electronic payment of bills-rather than by check or cash. (Wire transfers, checks, drafts, and paper instruments do not fall into this category.) ^{Source: OCC}
• Employee: means a person who has entered into the employment of an employer, where the employer is unable to show that:

• Employee: means a person who, in consideration of direct or indirect gain or profit, has been continuously employed by the same employer for a period of one year for an average of at least 30 hours per week. See
• Employee: means a person who, in consideration of direct or indirect gain or profit, is employed by an employer for an average of no less than 18 hours per week during a year. See
• Employee: means every person who may be permitted, required, or directed by any employer, in consideration of direct or indirect gain or profit, to perform services. See
• Employee: means every person who may be permitted, required, or directed by any employer, in consideration of direct or indirect gain or profit, to perform services. See
• Employee: means any person who may be permitted, required, or directed by any employer, in consideration of direct or indirect gain or profit, to perform services. See
• Employee: means a municipal employee as defined in this section. See
• Employer: means any person having employees in his or her service. See
• Employer: means any person that employs:

• Employer: means an individual, organization, or governmental body, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, trustee, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, and any common carrier by rail, motor, water, air, or express company doing business in or operating within this State which for the purposes of parental leave employs 10 or more individuals who are employed for an average of at least 30 hours per week during a year and for the purposes of family leave employs 15 or more individuals for an average of at least 30 hours per week during a year. See
• Employer: means any individual, organization, or governmental body, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, trustee, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, and any common carrier by rail, motor, water, air, or express company doing business in or operating within this State. See
• Employer: means any individual, organization, or governmental body, including partnership, association, trustee, estate, corporation, joint stock company, insurance company, or legal representative, whether domestic or foreign, or the receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee or successor thereof, and any common carrier by mail, motor, water, air, or express company doing business in or operating within this State, which has one or more individuals performing services for it within this State. See
• Employer: means any individual, organization, or governmental body including any partnership, association, trustee, estate, corporation, joint stock company, insurance company, or legal representative, whether domestic or foreign, or the receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee, or successor thereof, and any common carrier by mail, motor, water, air, or express company doing business in or operating within this State, and any agent of such employer, that has one or more individuals performing services for it within this State. See
• Employer: means any individual, organization, or governmental body, including partnership, association, trustee, estate, corporation, joint stock company, insurance company, or legal representative, whether domestic or foreign, or the receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee, or successor thereof, and any common carrier by mail, motor, water, air, or express company doing business in or operating within this State, which has one or more individuals performing services for it within this State, or which has offered or may offer employment to one or more individuals. See
• Employment agency: means a person who undertakes, with or without compensation, to procure, refer, recruit, or place for an employer or person, the opportunity to work for an employer. See
• Employment agency: means every person, corporation, association, or governmental body representative thereof engaged in the business of advertising for advising, classifying, training, or referral of persons for employment within this State, or that at the direction of any employer advertises, locates, advises, classifies, trains, refers, or selects persons to engage in any employment. See
• Employment agency: means a person who undertakes, with or without compensation, to procure, refer, recruit, or place for an employer or person, the opportunity to work for an employer. See
• Employment loss: means the termination of employment that is the direct result of a business closing or mass layoff. See
• Enforcement officers: shall include :

• engaged in the business: means having sold or exchanged at least 12 cars or motor trucks, or a combination thereof, in the immediately preceding year, or 24 in the two immediately preceding years. See
• Enhanced license: means an operator's license, commercial driver's license, junior operator's license, or nondriver identification card that denotes identity and citizenship and includes facilitative technology identified by the Department of Homeland Security. See
• 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}
• Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
• 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.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Examiner: means any person licensed under 26 Vt. See
• Exclusive bargaining agent: means the employee organization certified by the Board or recognized by the employer as the only organization to bargain collectively for all employees in the bargaining unit, including persons who are not members of the employee organization. See
• Exclusive representative: means the labor organization that has been certified under this chapter and has the right to represent independent direct support providers for the purpose of collective bargaining. See
• Family leave: means a leave of absence from employment by an employee who works for an employer which employs 15 or more individuals who are employed for an average of at least 30 hours per week during the year for one of the following reasons:

• Farm tractor: means a traveling power plant or a self-propelled device that functions as part of crop production, harvesting, feeding, or livestock management or is used for drawing a farm trailer as defined in subdivision (69) of this section. See
• Farm trailer: means a vehicle or equipment designed and adapted exclusively for tilling, planting, harvesting, management, or for carrying inputs to or outputs from agricultural, horticultural, or livestock-raising operations, or farm equipment, without motive power, designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, a farm truck, or a farm tractor, and, in any case, not subject to registration if used upon the highway. See
• Farm truck: means a motor truck that, at the option of the owner, may be registered under the provisions of subsection 367(f) of this title or may be unregistered when used in accordance with subsection 370(b) of this title. See
• Fees: shall mean earnings due for official services, aside from salaries or per diem compensation. See
• Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Fresh pursuit: includes fresh pursuit as defined by the common law, and also the pursuit of a suspected violator of the criminal laws or other laws of this State, for which he or she is, or might be, subject to arrest, by an enforcement officer. See
• gender identity: means an individual's actual or perceived gender identity, or gender-related characteristics intrinsically related to an individual's gender or gender-identity, regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth. See
• General election: shall mean any election of State and county officers, Representatives to the General Assembly, U. See
• Grades: means the division of the educational work of the public schools into 13 school year units beginning with kindergarten and thereafter numbered from one to 12 beginning with the lowest. See
• Grievance: means the exclusive representative's formal written complaint regarding the improper application of one or more terms of the collective bargaining agreement, the failure to abide by any agreement reached, or the discriminatory application of a rule or regulation, which has not been resolved to a satisfactory result through informal discussion with the State. See
• Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
• Harass: means to engage in unwelcome conduct based on an employee's race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, place of birth, age, crime victim status, or physical or mental condition that interferes with the employee's work or creates a work environment that is intimidating, hostile, or offensive. See
• Has a history or record of such an impairment: means that the individual has a history of, or has been misclassified as having, a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more life activity. See
• Impasse: means a controversy concerning wages, hours, and conditions of employment arising from the inability of a municipal employer and an exclusive bargaining agent to reach agreement after both parties have bargained collectively in good faith for not less than 60 days. See
• Independent direct support provider: means any individual who provides home- and community-based services to a service recipient and is employed by the service recipient, shared living provider, or surrogate. See
• Independent school: means a school other than a public school, which provides a program of elementary or secondary education, or both. See
• Individual with a disability: means any natural person who:

• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Intersecting highway: shall mean any highway that joins another at an angle, whether or not it crosses the other; but a driveway leading to or from private grounds shall not be interpreted to be a highway. See
• Is regarded as having such an impairment: means that the individual:

• Jitney: shall include any motor vehicle, not designated for the carrying of merchandise or freight, advertised or regularly used for carrying passengers for hire, but not operating over a fixed route, including motor vehicles operated for hire in connection with a livery business, but shall not include any such vehicle that the owner thereof uses in an emergency for such purpose, nor one that an employer uses to transport his or her employees to and from their work, nor one that is used at least 75 percent of the time in the transportation of schoolchildren or under authority granted to a school board under 16 V. See
• Junior operator: shall include only such persons as are 16 and 17 years of age. See
• 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.
• Juror: A person who is on the jury.
• Justice: when applied to a person, other than a Justice of the Supreme Court, shall mean a justice of the peace for the county for which he or she is elected or appointed. See
• Labor organization: means any organization or association that represents not less than five employees and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours, promotions, or other terms and conditions of employment. See
• Labor organization: means an organization of any kind in which independent direct support providers participate and which exists, in whole or in part, for the purpose of representing independent direct support providers. See
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legislative body: means the mayor (or other chief executive officer) and board of aldermen of a city, the selectboard of a town, the trustees of a village, the trustees or prudential committee of a district, the school board of a school district, or the designated governing body of any other political subdivision of the State. See
• Legislative session: That part of a chamber's daily session in which it considers legislative business (bills, resolutions, and actions related thereto).
• Library: means a public library as defined in subdivision 101(2) of this title; any college, university, or school library; or any other library or archive that is open on a regular basis and makes available on site or circulates materials to the public without a fee. See
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
• Major life activities: means functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, and receiving education or vocational training. See
• Managerial prerogative: means any nonbargainable matters of inherent managerial policy. See
• Mass layoff: means a permanent employment loss of at least 50 employees at one or more worksites in Vermont during any 90-day period. See
• Month: shall mean a calendar month and "year" shall mean a calendar year and be equivalent to the expression "year of our Lord. See
• Month: means 30 days and "year" means 365 days. See
• Motor bus: shall include any motor vehicle with a seating capacity of more than seven persons, other than a street car, operated upon the public streets and highways along a regular route, and in such operation receiving, discharging, and transporting passengers for hire. See
• Motor truck: means any motor vehicle designed primarily for the transportation of property and shall be construed to include truck tractor-semitrailer and truck tractor-semitrailer-trailer combinations. See
• Motor vehicle: includes all vehicles propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power, except farm tractors, vehicles running only upon stationary rails or tracks, motorized highway building equipment, road making appliances, snowmobiles, tracked vehicles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, or electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
• Motor-assisted bicycle: means any bicycle or tricycle with fully operable pedals and equipped with a motor that in itself is capable of producing a top speed of not more than 20 miles per hour on a paved level surface when ridden by an operator who weighs 170 pounds and either:

  (I) has an internal combustion motor with a power output of not more than 1,000 watts or 1. See

• Motor-driven cycle: means any vehicle equipped with two or three wheels, a power source providing up to a maximum of two brake horsepower and having a maximum piston or rotor displacement of 50 cubic centimeters if a combustion engine is used, which will propel the vehicle, unassisted, at a speed not to exceed 30 miles per hour on a level road surface, and that is equipped with a power drive system that functions directly or automatically only, not requiring clutching or shifting by the operator after the drive system is engaged. See
• Motorcycle: means any motor vehicle having a seat or saddle for the use of the rider and designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground, and includes autocycles but excludes motor-driven cycles, motor-assisted bicycles, electric bicycles, golf carts, track driven vehicles, tractors, and electric personal assistive mobility devices. See
• Motorized highway building equipment: shall include all bulldozers, rollers, scrapers, graders, spreaders, pavers, bituminous mixers, compressors, power shovels, excavators, dumpsters, concrete mixers, bucket loaders, snow loaders, rooters, and scarifiers, except road oilers and bituminous distributors, which contain as an integral part thereof and within the same unit facilities for generating motor power for propelling the same and while being used exclusively for the building, repair, or maintenance of highways, or being transported or moved from job to job in connection with the building, repair, or maintenance of highways; or, for purposes of registration only, if owned and operated by a municipality, while being used exclusively for municipal purposes; however, the town road commissioner, or comparable municipal officer, shall report annually to the legislative body of the municipality that the equipment is in good repair; tractors used exclusively as a power unit in drawing road making appliances or in the transportation of same or of such tractor from job to job in connection with the building, repair, or maintenance of highways. See
• Municipal employee: means any employee of a municipal employer, including a municipal school employee or a professional employee as defined in subdivision 1502(11) of this title, except:

• Municipal employer: means a city, town, village, fire district, lighting district, consolidated water district, housing authority, union municipal district, or any of the political subdivisions of the State of Vermont that employs five or more employees as defined in this section. See
• Municipal fleet inspection station: shall mean a municipality that has been designated as an official municipal fleet inspection station, provided it has motor vehicles registered in the name of the municipality and meets all the requirements for designation as an official inspection station. See
• Municipal school employee: means an employee of a supervisory union or school district who is not otherwise subject to 16 Vt. See
• Municipality: shall include a city, town, town school district, incorporated school or fire district or incorporated village, and all other governmental incorporated units. See
• National Bank: A bank that is subject to the supervision of the Comptroller of the Currency. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department. A national bank can be recognized because it must have "national" or "national association" in its name. ^{Source: OCC}
• Neighborhood electric vehicle: means a self-propelled electrically powered motor vehicle that:

• network: means any online-enabled application, software, website, or system offered or used by a transportation network company that enables the prearrangement of rides with transportation network company drivers. See
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Nonresident: shall include any person who does not come under the definition of a resident. See
• Oath: shall include affirmation where by law an affirmation may be substituted. See
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• 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.
• On-track equipment: means any car, locomotive, rolling stock, equipment, or other device that, alone or coupled, is operated on stationary rails. See
• Operator: shall include all persons 18 years of age or over properly licensed to operate motor vehicles. See
• Oversight: Committee review of the activities of a Federal agency or program.
• Owner: shall include any person, corporation, co-partnership, or association holding legal title to a motor vehicle or having exclusive right to the use or control thereof for a period of 30 days or more. See
• Paid time off policy: means any policy under which the employer provides paid time off from work to the employee that includes a combination of one or more of the following:

• Parental leave: means a leave of absence from employment by an employee who works for an employer which employs 10 or more individuals who are employed for an average of at least 30 hours per week during the year for one of the following reasons:

• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Patron registration records: means library records that contain information a library patron must provide in order to be eligible for borrowing privileges at a library. See
• Patron transaction records: means library records that contain names or other personal identifying information that discloses an individual's activities within a library, including the materials that have been viewed in print or electronic form, research questions posed, materials in any format that the patron has requested through interlibrary loan or has borrowed, or any other library service or consultation that the patron has requested. See
• Pedestrian: means any person afoot and shall also include any person 16 years of age or older operating an electric personal assistive mobility device. See
• 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
• Person: includes any natural person, corporation, association, co-partnership, company, firm, or other aggregation of individuals. See
• Person: means one or more individuals, a city, town, village, or any other political subdivision of the State of Vermont, employee organizations, partnerships, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, or any other natural or legal entity whatsoever. See
• Person who is blind or visually impaired: means a person whose visual acuity with correction is no better than 20/60, or whose field of vision subtends an angle of no greater than 20 degrees. See
• Personal radio frequency identification number chip: shall mean the number assigned to the transmitting chip in an enhanced license. See
• Personal vehicle: means a vehicle that is:

• physical or mental impairment: includes diseases and conditions such as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, intellectual disability, emotional illness, and drug addiction and alcoholism. See
• Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
• Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
• Pleasure car: shall include all motor vehicles not otherwise defined in this title. See
• plug-in hybrid electric vehicle: means a motor vehicle that can be powered by an electric motor drawing current from a rechargeable energy storage system but also has an onboard combustion engine. See
• Polygraph examination: means any procedure which involves the use of instrumentation or a mechanical device to enable or assist the detection of deception, the verification of the truthfulness, or the rendering of a diagnostic opinion regarding either of these, and includes a lie detector or similar test. See
• Portable electronic device: means a portable electronic or computing device, including a cellular telephone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or laptop computer. 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.
• Pregnancy-related condition: means a limitation of an employee's ability to perform the functions of a job caused by pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. See
• President pro tempore: A constitutionally recognized officer of the Senate who presides over the chamber in the absence of the Vice President. The President Pro Tempore (or, "president for a time") is elected by the Senate and is, by custom, the Senator of the majority party with the longest record of continuous service.
• Privilege to operate: includes the privilege of a nonresident to operate a motor vehicle within the State and includes the privilege of a resident to obtain a license. See
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Psychiatric disability: means an impairment of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that limits one or more major life activities but does not include intellectual disability. See
• Public information: means any State data that are included within the information deemed to be public pursuant to the Public Records Act and other provisions of law providing for release of information to the public at large or to specified groups or recipients. See
• public road: shall include all parts of any bridge, culvert, roadway, street, square, fairground, or other place open temporarily or permanently to public or general circulation of vehicles, and shall include a way laid out under authority of law. See
• Public school: means an elementary school or secondary school operated by a school district. See
• Qualified individual with a disability: means :

• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Reasonable accommodation: means the changes and modifications that can be made in the structure of a job or in the manner in which a job is performed unless it would impose an undue hardship on the employer. See
• Recourse: An arrangement in which a bank retains, in form or in substance, any credit risk directly or indirectly associated with an asset it has sold (in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles) that exceeds a pro rata share of the bank's claim on the asset. If a bank has no claim on an asset it has sold, then the retention of any credit risk is recourse. ^{Source: FDIC}
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Repossession: includes the transport of a repossessed vehicle to a location specified by the lienholder or owner at whose direction the vehicle was repossessed. See
• Resident: as used in this title only, means any person living in the State who intends to make the State his or her principal place of domicile either permanently or for an indefinite number of years. See
• Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
• ride: means the transportation provided by a driver to a transportation network company rider, beginning when a driver accepts the rider's request for a ride through a digital network controlled by a company; continuing while the driver transports the rider; and ending when the last rider departs from the vehicle. See
• rider: means an individual who uses a company's digital network to connect with a driver who provides rides in his or her personal vehicle between points chosen by the rider. See
• road: shall include bridges thereon and their approaches. See
• Road making appliances: shall mean all bulldozers, rollers, scrapers, graders, spreaders, pavers, retreading machines, compressors, power shovels, excavators, rock crushers, concrete mixers, snow loaders, bucket loaders, rooters, portable electric generators, pavement heaters, sweepers, steam boilers, traffic control boards, screening plants, asphalt reclaimers, and scarifiers designed to be and while being drawn by a separate motorized power unit and while being used exclusively for building, repair, or maintenance of roads or highways or while being transported from job to job in connection with the building, repair, or maintenance of roads or highways, except contractor's trailers. See
• Safety glass: shall mean any product composed of safety glazing materials so manufactured, fabricated, or treated as substantially to prevent shattering and flying when struck or broken. See
• School board: means the board of school directors elected to manage the schools of a school district, the prudential committee of an incorporated school district, the supervisory union board of directors, and the supervisors of unorganized towns and gores. See
• School board negotiations council: means , for a supervisory district, its school board, and, for school districts within a supervisory union, the body comprising representatives designated by each school board within the supervisory union and by the supervisory union board to engage in collective bargaining with their school employees' negotiations council. See
• School bus: means any motor vehicle used to transport children to or from school or in connection with school activities, except:

• School district: means town school districts, union school districts, interstate school districts, city school districts, unified union districts, and incorporated school districts, each of which is governed by a publicly elected board. See
• Secretary: means the Secretary of Education. See
• Self-funded web portal: means the centralized electronic information system by which public information is disseminated or collected via the Internet, supported entirely with fees collected for financial transactions through the portal. See
• Sending district: means a school district paying tuition on behalf of a student to a school district that provides CTE courses. See
• Serious illness: means an accident, disease, or physical or mental condition that:

• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Service recipient: means a person who receives home- and community-based services under the Choices for Care Medicaid waiver, the Attendant Services Program (ASP), the Children's Personal Care Service Program, the Developmental Disabilities Services Program, or any successor program or similar program subsequently established. See
• Service region: means , for each regional CTE center, a region surrounding it designated by rule of the State Board under section 1531 of this title. See
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Sexual harassment: is a form of sex discrimination and means unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, physical, written, auditory, or visual conduct of a sexual nature when:

• sexual orientation: means female or male homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality. See
• Short-term rental: means a period of less than one year. See
• Specialized fuel driven motor vehicle: shall include all motor vehicles, the power for which is generated otherwise than by gasoline or by diesel "fuel" as defined in section 3002 of this title, excluding steam road rollers, tractors used entirely for work on the farm, and vehicles running only upon rails or tracks. 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
• State Board: means the State Board of Education established by chapter 3 of this title. See
• State data: means any information stored, gathered, or generated in electronic or magnetic form by a State agency. See
• State property: means any building or land owned, leased, or controlled by the Department of Buildings and General Services. See
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Stiff hitch: shall mean a tow bar used by a self-propelled motor vehicle to tow another self-propelled motor vehicle while all the wheels of the towed vehicle remain in contact with the ground. See
• Storage trailer: means any regularly manufactured box type trailer that has been removed from normal over-the-highway service and is used solely for the storage of commodities at a fixed site for extended periods of time. See
• Strike: means conduct by an employee or employee organization or its agents that produces, induces, or encourages a work stoppage, slowdown, or withholding of services; such conduct includes recognizing a picket line or other conduct that interferes with or impedes the orderly functions and services of a municipal employer. See
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Substantially limits: means the degree that the impairment affects an individual's employability. See
• Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
• Superintendent: means the chief executive officer of a supervisory union and each school board within it. See
• Supervisory union: means an administrative, planning, and educational service unit created by the State Board under section 261 of this title, that consists of two or more school districts; if the context clearly allows, the term also means a supervisory district. See
• sworn: shall include affirmed. See
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
• Towing business: means a person that regularly engages in one or more of the following: recovery, impoundment, transport, storage, or disposal of motor vehicles. See
• Town: shall include city and wards or precincts therein; "selectboard members" and "board of civil authority" shall extend to and include the mayor and aldermen of cities; "trustees" shall extend to and include bailiffs of incorporated villages; and the laws applicable to the inhabitants and officers of towns shall be applicable to the inhabitants and similar officers of all municipal corporations. See
• Tractor: shall include a motor vehicle designed or used primarily as a traveling power plant or for drawing other vehicles, and not so constructed as to carry any load other than a part of the weight of the vehicles and load so drawn, excepting, however, motorized highway building equipment. See
• traffic violation: means :

• Trailer: is a vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, and so constructed that no part of its weight rests upon the towing vehicle excepting, however, road making appliances and transportation dollies, and "semi-trailer" is a vehicle without motive power, designed to be drawn by a motor vehicle, and so constructed that some part of its weight and that of its load rests upon or is carried by the towing vehicle, excepting, however, pole dinkeys, transportation dollies, and road making appliances. See
• Trailer coach: shall mean any trailer or semi-trailer designed to be towed by a motor vehicle and designed, equipped, or used for sleeping, eating, or living quarters. See
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• Transporter: means :

• Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
• Truck crane: shall mean a motor truck equipped with a permanently mounted hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick, designed for the moving of objects, with no provision for carrying a load on the body of such truck crane except equipment used for the operation of a hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick. See
• Truck tractor: shall include a motor vehicle designed and used primarily for drawing other vehicles but so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load so drawn. See
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
• Type II school bus: means a school bus with a manufacturer's rated seating capacity of more than 10 and fewer than 16 passengers, including the operator. See
• Vending facility: means a cafeteria, snack bar, cart service, concession stand, or other facility for the sale of newspapers, periodicals, confection, tobacco products, foods, beverages, and other articles or services which is operated by a person licensed under this subchapter. See
• Village: shall mean an incorporated village. See
• Voluntary recognition: means formal acknowledgment by a municipal employer designating a particular employee organization as the exclusive bargaining agent for municipal employees in an appropriate bargaining unit. See
• Vulnerable user: means a pedestrian; an operator of highway building, repair, or maintenance equipment or of agricultural equipment; a person operating a wheelchair or other personal mobility device, whether motorized or not; a person operating a bicycle or other nonmotorized means of transportation (such as roller skates, rollerblades, or roller skis); a person operating a motor-assisted bicycle or an electric bicycle; or a person riding, driving, or herding an animal. See
• Wages: means all remuneration payable for services rendered by an employee, including salary, commissions, and incentive pay. See
• working day: means any calendar day except Saturday, Sunday, or any day classified as a holiday under 1 V. See
• Wrecker: shall mean a motor truck equipped with a permanently mounted hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick, designed for moving and towing motor vehicles, with no provision for carrying a load on the body of the truck except motor vehicles, parts and equipment used for the repair of motor vehicles, and equipment used for the operation of a hoisting apparatus, winch, or derrick. See