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DRAFT FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW — NOT FINAL

§ 46a-58

Citation
§ 46a-58
Parent Document
Connecticut Judicial Branch v. Gilbert, 343 Conn. 90 (2022)
Jurisdiction
Connecticut (state)
Effective Date
2022-04-26

Other Sections in This Document (128)

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             The branch also argues that, even if federal law does
          not bar the commission from awarding damages for
          Title VII violations under §§ 46a-58 (a) and 46a-86 (c),
          the commission is precluded from doing so under state
          law, as construed by Truelove. In Truelove, this court
          held that state law employment discrimination claims
          can be brought only under § 46a-60, the statute specifi-
          cally dedicated to such claims, and not under § 46a-58
          (a), the general antidiscrimination statute. See Com-
          mission on Human Rights & Opportunities v. True-
          love & Maclean, Inc., supra, 238 Conn. 346. The court
          applied the canon of construction that ‘‘specific terms
          covering the given subject matter will prevail over gen-
          eral language of the same or another statute [that] might
          otherwise prove controlling’’; (internal quotation marks
          omitted) id.; and also posited that there would have
          been no reason for the legislature to authorize different
          remedies for violations of the two statutes if employ-
          ment discrimination claims could be brought under
          either. See id., 347. The branch contends that the same
          reasoning applies to Title VII claims; it would have been
          incongruous for the legislature to require that state law
          employment discrimination claims be brought under
          § 46a-60 and limited to the equitable remedies that were
          then available under § 46a-86 (b) but, at the same time,
          to allow the commission to determine that the same
          discriminatory practices offended Title VII and to award
          damages and attorney’s fees on that basis, via §§ 46a-
          58 (a) and 46a-86 (c).
          at https://www.eeoc.gov/fy-2012-eeocfepa-model-worksharing-agreement-
          worksharing-agreement-between-state-connecticut (last visited April 20,
          2022). Accordingly, although we cannot say with certainty that the EEOC
          has in fact reviewed either the commission’s decision in the present case
          or any other particular cases in which the commission has awarded damages
          under §§ 46a-58 (a) and 46a-86 (c) after finding a Title VII violation, we take
          the EEOC’s ongoing oversight role as an indication that the commission’s
          practices in this regard are considered proper.
April 26, 2022             CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL                      Page 57