Section 31-51q

Citation: Section 31-51q
Parent Document: Cotto v. United Technologies Corp., 251 Conn. 1 (1999)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 1999-10-12
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/7898264/cotto-v-united-technologies-corp/ ↗

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The Massachusetts Civil Rights Act provides for a private civil action for equitable relief and damages for any person whose enjoyment of any rights secured by either the federal or state constitution has been interfered with, by threats, intimidation or coercion, by “any person or persons, whether or not acting under color of law . . . (Emphasis added.) Mass. Gen. Laws c. 12, §§ 11H, 11I (1986). Relying principally on the italicized language, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that the legislature “intended to incorporate a proscription on private acts in deprivation of secured constitutional rights,” and that the statute applies to conduct between purely private parties. Bell v. Mazza, 394 Mass. 176, 181-82, 474 N.E.2d 1111 (1985). In Phelps v. President & Trustees of Colby College, 595 A.2d 403, 405-406 (Me. 1991), the Maine Supreme Judicial Court construed an identical statute, the Maine Civil Rights Act; 5 Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 4681 through 4683 (West Sup. 1990); to protect expressive rights only against governmental, not private, interference.

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