(a) A covered employee aggrieved by a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and may be awarded such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this chapter, including without limitation:

(1) Reinstatement;

(2) Payment of lost wages totaling not less than the hourly rate of pay due to the covered employee but for the violation multiplied by the number of hours below the minimum work week that the covered employee was provided each work week during which a violation occurred;

(3) Actual medical costs incurred by the covered employee as a result of the violation;

(4) Liquidated damages in the amount of $100 per day for each day the violation continued; and

(5) Reasonable attorney's fees and costs of the action to be paid by the defendant to a prevailing plaintiff.

(b)(1) An action to recover damages under this chapter may be maintained in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by one or more covered employees aggrieved by a violation of this chapter or on behalf of a covered employee or covered employees who are similarly situated as long as at least one of the covered employees has exhausted all administrative remedies.

(2)(A) For the purposes of this subsection, 2 or more covered employees are similarly situated if they:

(i) Are or were employed by the same covered employer, whether concurrently or otherwise, at some point during the applicable statute of limitations period;

(ii) Allege one or more violations that raise similar questions as to liability; and

(iii) Seek similar forms of relief.

(B) Covered employees alleging violations of this chapter shall not be considered dissimilar under this subsection solely because their claims seek damages that differ in amount or their job titles, or other means of classifying them differ in ways that are unrelated to their claims.

(c)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, an action commenced for a violation of this chapter on or after the applicability of this chapter shall be commenced within 3 years after the cause of action accrued or of the last occurrence if the cause of action is continuous, whichever is later, or the cause of action shall be forever barred.

(2) The 3-year statute of limitations shall be tolled:

(A) From the date the covered employee files an administrative complaint with the Mayor until the Mayor notifies the covered employee in writing that the administrative complaint has been resolved or the administrative complaint is withdrawn by the covered employee;

(B) During any period that the covered employer has failed to provide the covered employee with actual or constructive notice of the covered employee's rights; or

(C) On other equitable grounds.

(Oct. 8, 2016, D.C. Law 21-157, § 16, 63 DCR 10739.)

Section 7016 of D.C. Law 22-33 repealed § 18 of D.C. Law 21-157. Therefore the changes made to this section by D.C. Law 21-157 have been implemented.

Applicability of D.C. Law 21-157: § 18 of D.C. Law 21-157 provided that the creation of this section by § 16 of D.C. Law 21-157 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.

For temporary (90 days) repeal of § 18 of D.C. Law 21-157, see § 7016 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-167, Oct. 24, 2017, 64 DCR 10802).

For temporary (90 days) repeal of § 18 of D.C. Law 21-157, see § 7016 of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-104, July 20, 2017, 64 DCR 7032).