This pro-civil rights legislation clarifies that plaintiffs have three years, rather than one year, to sue under the Rhode Island Civil Rights Act, a major state law prohibiting discrimination in employment and other settings. Although the Governor vetoed this bill, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for an override when they returned in January 2010.
The bill responds to a R.I. Supreme Court ruling that concluded that complainants have only one year to bring suit, even though the default statute of limitations for virtually all other personal injury actions in Rhode Island is three years. The bill had unanimously passed the legislature last year. In vetoing the bill, the Governor called the three-year proviso “unreasonable” to the business community. As a result of the veto, a victim of discrimination now has a shorter time to file suit than just about any other type of claimant, including a person who is a victim of a dog bite (three years) or of property damage to his or her car (ten years).
