Vermont Official State Website

Reasonable Grounds Cases

Below you will find links to investigative reports for cases where the Vermont Human Rights Commission has found reasonable grounds to believe that discrimination occurred in housing, employment, or a place of public accommodation.  When the Vermont Human Rights Commission finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful discrimination occurred, the HRC statute requires that the Investigative Report, the Final Determination, and any Post-Determination Conciliation Agreement (PDCA) become public documents.  If the Vermont Human Rights Commission finds that there are no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful discrimination occurred, the Commission closes the case and the identities of the parties remain confidential.

Note that in some cases, the preliminary recommendation can be for a finding of no reasonable grounds. After deliberations, the Commission can reverse the preliminary recommendations and make final determinations of reasonable grounds. In some cases, the Commission will make a "split" decision - partial reasonable grounds and partial no reasonable grounds final determinations - where more than one claim or protected category was included in the initial allegations.

Once the Commission makes a final determination of reasonable grounds, the parties have six months to negotiate a settlement. If a case is not settled within that time period, the Commission must make a decision whether to litigate a case. The Commission may also decline to litigate a case, which is closes a case without settlement.

The documents below contain the initial investigative report and the Commission’s final determination.  Cases that were closed without settlement, cases that were settled through litigation, and cases that are currently in active litigation are indicated as such.

The investigative reports are available for reasonable grounds cases from FY14 to the present in PDF format below or in hard copy in our office. The investigative reports are available for reasonable grounds cases from FY99 to FY09 in hard copy in our office. PDCAs from FY99 to the present are available in hard copy in our office. 

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