House Approves Two Sexual Harassment Bills

PROVIDENCE, RI – The House of Representatives passed two bills this week aimed at allowing victims more time to report instances of abuse. The legislation was approved by the House commission that studied sexual harassment and discrimination during the 2018 session, and the bills were sponsored by members of the commission.

The first bill, passed on Wednesday, increases the time that employees can file complaints of unlawful employment practices with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights. If passed, the time frame would double from one year to two.

"People who suffer discrimination or harassment often don’t report it immediately. Sometimes they have no idea who to tell, or that there is a commission that handles these matters in Rhode Island, or sometimes they struggle to get the courage to tell anyone at all. Victims deserve more than a 12-month window to start the process. We hope this will enable more victims to seek the justice they deserve," the bill's sponsor, Rep. Evan P. Shanley (D-Dist. 24, Warwick), said.

The second bill, sponsored by Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee (D-Dist. 33, South Kingstown, Narragansett), would exclude the amount of time for the Human Rights Commission to investigate a discrimination case from counting toward the statute of limitations on any other legal notice, claim or lawsuit relating to the complaint.

"Filing a complaint with the Human Rights Commission is a good first step for anyone who believes he or she has been discriminated against," Rep. McEntee said. "But doing so shouldn’t have any negative effect on the victim’s ability to pursue all other available legal courses of action. This legislation allows that process to run its course before the clock starts ticking on the statute of limitations for victims to pursue justice in Superior Court."

Rep. Teresa Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett), the commission's chairwoman and cosponsor of both bills, said both bills are a step in the right direction towards bringing justice in cases of discrimination or harassment.

"I think this is important recognition that matters of discrimination are complicated and often intersectional, and that victims don’t always immediately recognize that they are being discriminated against or know what to do about it," Rep. Tanzi said. "Through these two measures, we are providing Rhode Islanders better opportunities to take action to seek justice. Although these changes are a small part of far greater change that must occur, it’s our hope that strengthening the process for complaints will also ultimately contribute to reducing the frequency of harassment and discrimination overall."

Both bills now head to the senate.