9 V.S.A. § ___ § 4506

(a) A person aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may file a charge of discrimination with the Human Rights Commission pursuant to chapter 141 of this title or may bring an action for injunctive relief and compensatory and punitive damages and any other appropriate relief in the Superior Court of the county in which the violation is alleged to have occurred.

(b) The court may award costs and reasonable attorney’s fees to an aggrieved person who prevails in an action brought under subsection (a) of this section.

(c) The Human Rights Commission may bring an action in the name of the Commission to enforce the provisions of this chapter in accordance with its powers established in chapter 141 of this title.

(d) The initiation or completion of an investigation by the Human Rights Commission shall not be a condition precedent to the filing of any lawsuit for violation of this chapter.

(e) A person shall not coerce, threaten, interfere, or otherwise discriminate against any individual who:

(1) has opposed any act or practice that is prohibited under section 4502 or 4503 of this title;

(2) has lodged a complaint or has testified, assisted, or participated in any manner with the Human Rights Commission in an investigation of acts or practices prohibited by this chapter;

(3) is known by the person to be about to lodge a complaint, testify, assist, or participate in any manner in an investigation of acts or practices prohibited by this chapter;

(4) is exercising or enjoying a right granted or protected by this chapter; or

(5) is believed by the person to have acted as described in subdivisions (1) through (4) of this subsection. (Added 1987, No. 74, § 1; amended 1987, No. 253 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 1989, No. 89, § 4; 2013, No. 31, § 12; 2015, No. 9, § 2, eff. April 16, 2015; 2021, No. 20, § 44.)