2020 -- S 2287 | |
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LC003756 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WRONGFUL DISCHARGE FROM | |
EMPLOYMENT | |
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Introduced By: Senators Quezada, Crowley, Metts, Bell, and Euer | |
Date Introduced: February 04, 2020 | |
Referred To: Senate Judiciary | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Title 28 of the General Laws entitled "LABOR AND LABOR |
2 | RELATIONS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: |
3 | CHAPTER 6.15 |
4 | WRONGFUL DISCHARGE FROM EMPLOYMENT ACT |
5 | 28-6.15-1. Short title. |
6 | This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Wrongful Discharge from |
7 | Employment Act." |
8 | 28-6.15-2. Purpose. |
9 | The purpose of this chapter is to change the state labor laws and provide reasonable |
10 | employment protection to most workers that: |
11 | (1) Provides job security to workers who perform satisfactorily; |
12 | (2) Provides for discharge from employment for just cause only; |
13 | (3) Abolishes the application of the "employment-at-will" doctrine in the state; and |
14 | (4) Creates specific remedies for wrongful discharge from employment. |
15 | 28-6.15-3. Definitions. |
16 | (1) "Constructive discharge" means the voluntary termination of employment by an |
17 | employee because of a situation created by an act or omission of the employer which an |
18 | objective, reasonable person would find so intolerable that voluntary termination is the only |
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1 | reasonable alternative. Constructive discharge does not mean voluntary termination because of an |
2 | employer's refusal to promote the employee or improve wages, responsibilities, or other terms |
3 | and conditions of employment. |
4 | (2) "Discharge" includes a constructive discharge as defined in this section and any other |
5 | termination of employment, including resignation, elimination of the job, layoff for lack of work, |
6 | failure to recall or rehire, and any other cutback in the number of employees for a legitimate |
7 | business reason. |
8 | (3) "Employee" means a person who works for another for hire. The term does not |
9 | include a person who is an independent contractor. |
10 | (4) "Fringe benefits" means the value of any employer-paid vacation leave, sick leave, |
11 | medical insurance plan, disability insurance plan, life insurance plan, and pension benefit plan in |
12 | force on the date of the termination. |
13 | (5) "Good cause" means reasonable job-related grounds for dismissal based on a failure |
14 | to satisfactorily perform job duties, disruption of the employer's operation, or other legitimate |
15 | business reason. |
16 | (6) "Lost wages" means the gross amount of wages that would have been reported to the |
17 | Internal Revenue Service as gross income on form W-2 and includes additional compensation |
18 | deferred at the option of the employee. |
19 | (7) "Public policy" means a policy in effect at the time of the discharge concerning the |
20 | public health, safety, or welfare established by constitutional provision, statute, or administrative |
21 | rule. |
22 | 28-6.15-4. Elements of wrongful discharge – Presumptive probationary period. |
23 | (a) A discharge is wrongful only if: |
24 | (1) It was in retaliation for the employee's refusal to violate public policy or for reporting |
25 | a violation of public policy; |
26 | (2) The discharge was not for good cause and the employee had completed the |
27 | employer's probationary period of employment; or |
28 | (3) The employer violated the express provisions of its own written personnel policy. |
29 | (b)(1) During a probationary period of employment, the employment may be terminated |
30 | at the will of either the employer or the employee on notice to the other for any reason or for no |
31 | reason. |
32 | (2) If an employer does not establish a specific probationary period or provide that there |
33 | is no probationary period prior to or at the time of hire, there is a probationary period of ninety |
34 | (90) days from the date of hire. |
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1 | 28-6.15-5. Remedies. |
2 | (a) If an employer has committed a wrongful discharge, the employee may be awarded |
3 | lost wages and fringe benefits for a period not to exceed four (4) years from the date of discharge, |
4 | together with interest on the lost wages and fringe benefits. Interim earnings, including amounts |
5 | the employee could have earned with reasonable diligence, must be deducted from the amount |
6 | awarded for lost wages. Before interim earnings are deducted from lost wages, there must be |
7 | deducted from the interim earnings any reasonable amounts expended by the employee in |
8 | searching for, obtaining, or relocating to new employment. |
9 | (b) The employee may recover punitive damages otherwise allowed by law if it is |
10 | established by clear and convincing evidence that the employer engaged in actual fraud or actual |
11 | malice in the discharge of the employee in violation of § 28-6.15-4. |
12 | (c) There is no right under any legal theory to damages for wrongful discharge under this |
13 | chapter for pain and suffering, emotional distress, compensatory damages, punitive damages, or |
14 | any other form of damages, except as provided for in subsections (a) and (b) of this section. |
15 | 28-6.15-6. Limitation of actions. |
16 | (a) An action under this chapter must be filed within one year after the date of discharge. |
17 | (b) If an employer maintains written internal procedures, other than those specified in § |
18 | 28-6.15-7, under which an employee may appeal a discharge within the organizational structure |
19 | of the employer, the employee shall first exhaust those procedures prior to filing an action under |
20 | this chapter. The employee's failure to initiate or exhaust available internal procedures is a |
21 | defense to an action brought under this chapter. If the employer's internal procedures are not |
22 | completed within ninety (90) days from the date the employee initiates the internal procedures, |
23 | the employee may file an action under this chapter and for purposes of this subsection the |
24 | employer's internal procedures are considered exhausted. The limitation period in subsection (a) |
25 | of this section is tolled until the procedures are exhausted. In no case may the provisions of the |
26 | employer's internal procedures extend the limitation period in subsection (a) of this section more |
27 | than one hundred twenty (120) days. |
28 | (c) If the employer maintains written internal procedures under which an employee may |
29 | appeal a discharge within the organizational structure of the employer, the employer shall, within |
30 | seven (7) days of the date of the discharge, notify the discharged employee of the existence of |
31 | such procedures and shall supply the discharged employee with a copy of them. If the employer |
32 | fails to comply with this subsection, the discharged employee need not comply with subsection |
33 | (b) of this section. |
34 | 28-6.15-7. Exemptions. |
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1 | This chapter does not apply to a discharge: |
2 | (1) That is subject to any other state or federal law that provides a procedure or remedy |
3 | for contesting the dispute. These laws include those that prohibit discharge for filing complaints, |
4 | charges, or claims with administrative bodies or that prohibit unlawful discrimination based on |
5 | race, national origin, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, political belief, color, marital status, and |
6 | other similar grounds. |
7 | (2) Of an employee covered by a written collective bargaining agreement or a written |
8 | contract of employment for a specific term. |
9 | 28-6.15-8. Preemption of common-law remedies. |
10 | Except as provided in this chapter, no claim for discharge may arise from tort or express |
11 | or implied contract. |
12 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC003756 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- WRONGFUL DISCHARGE FROM | |
EMPLOYMENT | |
*** | |
1 | This act would end Rhode Island's "employment-at-will" legal doctrine, and would |
2 | provide job protection for employees that satisfactorily perform their duties. The act would also |
3 | provide specific remedies for wrongful discharge. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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LC003756 | |
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