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2005 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 2.2-2639 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 2.2-2639. Causes of action not created.
A. Nothing in this article creates, nor shall it be construed to create, an independent or private cause of action to enforce its provisions, except as specifically provided in subsections B and C.
B. No employer employing more than five but less than fifteen
15 persons shall discharge any such employee on the basis of race,
color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical
conditions, including lactation, or of age if the employee is forty 40
years old or older. For the purposes of this section, "lactation"
means a condition that may result in the feeding of a child directly from the
breast or the expressing of milk from the breast.
C. The employee may bring an action in a general district or
circuit court having jurisdiction over the employer who allegedly discharged
the employee in violation of this section. Any such action shall be brought
within 180 days from the date of the discharge or, if the employee has filed
a complaint with the Council or a local human rights or human relations agency
or commission within 180 days of the discharge, such action shall be brought
within 90 days from the date that the Council or a local human rights or human
relations agency or commission has rendered a final disposition on the
complaint. The court may award up to twelve 12 months' back
pay with interest at the judgment rate as provided in § 6.1-330.54. However, if
the court finds that either party engaged in tactics to delay resolution of the
complaint, it may (i) diminish the award or (ii) award back pay to the date of
judgment without regard to the twelve 12-month limitation.
In any case where the employee prevails, the court shall award
attorney's attorneys' fees from the amount recovered, not to
exceed twenty-five 25 percent of the back pay awarded. The court
shall not award other damages, compensatory or punitive, nor shall it order
reinstatement of the employee.
D. Causes of action based upon the public policies reflected
in this article shall be exclusively limited to those actions, procedures and
remedies, if any, afforded by applicable federal or state civil rights statutes
or local ordinances. Nothing in this section or § 2.2-3900 shall be deemed to
alter, supersede, or otherwise modify the authority of the Council or of any
local human rights or human relations commissions established pursuant to §
15.2-965 or § 15.2-853 or subject to the provisions of § 2.2-2638.