Reasonable Grounds Cases

Below you will find links to investigative reports of cases in which the Vermont Human Rights Commission found reasonable grounds to believe that discrimination occurred in housing, employment, or a place of public accommodation. By statute, when the Vermont Human Rights Commission finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful discrimination occurred, the Investigative Report, the Final Determination (including the identities of the Complainant and the Respondent), 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 cases and the identities of the parties remain confidential.

Note that in some cases , the preliminary recommendation in an Administrative Law Examiner's report can be for a finding of no reasonable grounds. After its deliberations, the Commission can reverse these preliminary recommendations and make final determinations of reasonable grounds. In some cases, the Commission will make 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 involved have six months within which to negotiate a settlement. If a case is not settled within that time period, the Commission must make a decision whether to take the case to court. In some cases, if settlement is not reached, the Commission declines to litigate the case, and the case is closed without settlement.

The documents listed below all 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 most recent reasonable grounds cases are in active settlement negotiations.

The investigative reports are available for reasonable grounds cases from FY10 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. PDCA's from FY99 to the present are available in hard copy in our office. The reasonable grounds cases are listed below by jurisdiction and type of complaint.

Employment

Housing

Disability Discrimination

Brier v. Duclos (Withdrawn due to court proceedings) (2012)
Stone v. Border Motel (Not settled due to inability to contact all parties) (2011)
Lambert v. Smart Suites (Settled) (2014)
Limoge v. Smart Suites (Settled) (2014)
A.C. v. Macy (2017)