Woonsocket Radio News Room

Sen. Ciccone’s Dignity at Work Act that combats workplace bullying passes Senate

 

STATE HOUSE – The Senate today passed Sen. Frank A. Ciccone’s (D-Dist. 7, Providence, North Providence) legislation (2022-S 2486A) that would provide workers with more protection from bullying and harassment in the workplace.

“I have been introducing similar legislation for many years and in today’s climate of accountability being brought upon harassers, bullies, and abusers, we must continue the social progress we have made and pass this protective legislation for all employees in Rhode Island.  Rhode Island workers deserve to have the Dignity at Work Act become law and I thank my colleagues in the Senate for supporting this important piece of workplace protection legislation,” said Senator Ciccone.

The purpose of the legislation is to recognize and protect the right to dignity in the workplace, and to prevent, detect, remedy and eliminate all forms of workplace bullying and harassment that infringe upon that right.  It will provide legal remedies for workers who are targets of workplace bullying, moral, psychological or general harassment and/or other forms of workplace abuse in order to make whole such targets of workplace abuse.  The bill also provides an incentive for employers to prevent, detect, remedy and eliminate workplace bullying in order that such behaviors shall be addressed and eliminated before they cause harm to the targets of such behaviors.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives for consideration.

 

President Trump is in Japan today for the latest stop of his Asia diplomacy tour. He met earlier with the Japanese Emperor at Tokyo's Imperial Palace. Later tonight, he will be meeting with the country's new prime minister as he continues to focus on trade, investment and defense spending. Later on this week, Trump is set to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping [[ she jeen-peeng ]] in South Korea.        The Senate is reconvening today as the government shutdown has rolled into its 27th day. However, Senators aren't currently scheduled to vote on a measure to reopen the government after it failed to be passed for a 12th time last week. This coming weekend, November 1st, government funding for food assistance will run out for about 42 million people.        Indiana Governor Mike Braun is pushing for the state's congressional maps to be redrawn. Braun issued a statement on Monday announcing, "a special legislative session to protect Hoosiers from efforts in other states that seek to diminish their voice in Washington and ensure their representation in Congress is fair." The White House has lobbied for the Hoosier state to redraw its congressional lines, with Vice President Vance traveling to the state twice and President Trump speaking with lawmakers directly about redistricting earlier this month.        A judge is expected to make a pretrial ruling today on what the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk can wear in court. Lawyers for Tyler Robinson want him be allowed to wear regular clothes without shackles during any in-person hearing. Prosecutors say that he should be restrained due to security concerns, or he should appear virtually.        The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has paused the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland until Tuesday afternoon. The judges will vote on whether to have a full eleven-member court hear the case. Judges have ruled differently in the Portland and Chicago cases. Rachel Van Cleave, a Visiting Professor at McGeorge School of Law, says that could be due to different situations on the ground in both cities and it could also be the differences in political positions of the judges.        Game three of the World Series is set for tonight in Los Angeles. The Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays are tied at one-game-a-piece. Max Scherzer [[ sher-zer ]] is taking the mound for Toronto, while Tyler Glasnow will start the game for Los Angeles.       

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