红杏视频

Plaintiffs Luther Parente and Eric Stewart filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (鈥淩IDOC鈥�) and various state officials discriminated against them based on their disabilities in violation of federal law and the RICRA. Plaintiffs allege that they each had injuries when they were taken into RIDOC鈥檚 custody and that correctional staff deliberately ignored and exacerbated those injuries.

In response, the State argued that it has sovereign immunity for violating the RICRA and cannot be sued for damages under that statute鈥攅ven for discrimination. The federal district court disagreed and held that the RICRA claims are 鈥渁ctions of tort鈥� that fall within the waiver of immunity effected by the STCA for 鈥渁ll actions of tort.鈥� The State appealed, and the First Circuit certified a question to the Rhode Island Supreme Court asking whether RICRA claims are indeed 鈥渁ctions of tort鈥� within the meaning of the STCA.

Our amicus brief argues that RICRA claims are 鈥渁ctions of tort鈥� as to which the State has waived its sovereign immunity. The brief makes two main points: (1) the plain meaning of 鈥渁ctions of tort鈥� in the STCA encompasses discrimination claims, including those brought under the RICRA; and (2) even if there were any ambiguity in the statute鈥檚 text, the fact that the Rhode Island General Assembly designed the RICRA to be a broad anti-discrimination law weighs in favor of concluding that RICRA claims fall within the STCA鈥檚 waiver of sovereign immunity. Otherwise, granting the State immunity from RICRA liability would undermine the statute鈥檚 purpose to hold all government actors, including state officials, accountable; state actors discriminating against Rhode Islanders would face no liability under the statute even though local government officials would.