§ 15-5-26. Duties and liabilities of employer under income assignment order or order for wage withholding.
(a) Any wage withholding agent failing to comply with any requirements in §§ 15-5-24 and 15-5-25 may be punished by the court for civil contempt. The court shall first afford the wage withholding agent a reasonable opportunity to purge itself of contempt.
(b) Any wage withholding agent who fails or refuses to deliver income pursuant to an order under §§ 15-5-24 and 15-5-25, when the garnishing agent has had in its possession the income, shall be personally liable for the amount of the income which the wage withholding agent failed or refused to deliver, together with costs, interest, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
(c) Any wage withholding agent who dismisses, demotes, disciplines, or in any way penalizes an obligor on account of any proceeding to collect support, on account of any order or orders entered by the court in the proceeding, or on account of the wage withholding agent’s compliance with the order or orders, shall be liable to the obligor for all damages, together with costs, interest thereon, and reasonable attorney’s fees resulting from the action, and shall be subject to a fine not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100). The wage withholding agent shall be required to make full restitution to the aggrieved obligor including reinstatements and back pay.
(d) A wage withholding agent may be enjoined by a court of competent jurisdiction from continuing any action in violation of §§ 15-5-24 and 15-5-25.
(e) Any proceeding against a wage withholding agent under this section must be commenced within ninety (90) days after a wage withholding agent’s act or failure to act upon which the proceeding is based.
(f) Compliance by a wage withholding agent with an order issued under §§ 15-5-24 and 15-5-25 operates as a discharge of the wage withholding agent’s liability to the obligor as to that portion of the obligor’s income so affected.
History of Section.P.L. 1980, ch. 304, § 1; P.L. 1984, ch. 199, § 2; P.L. 1985, ch. 143, § 1; P.L. 1997, ch. 170, § 1.
Structure Rhode Island General Laws
Chapter 15-5 - Divorce and Separation
Section 15-5-1. - Marriages void or voidable — Civil death or presumption of death.
Section 15-5-2. - Additional grounds for divorce.
Section 15-5-3. - Separation of parties as ground for dissolution — Appeal.
Section 15-5-3.1. - Divorce on grounds of irreconcilable differences.
Section 15-5-4. - Collusion of parties.
Section 15-5-5. - Uncorroborated testimony of complainant.
Section 15-5-6 - — 15-5-8. Repealed.
Section 15-5-9. - Divorce from bed and board.
Section 15-5-10. - Disposal of certain real estate after filing of complaint.
Section 15-5-11. - Verification of complaint.
Section 15-5-12. - Domicile and residence requirements.
Section 15-5-14. - Return day of complaints — Notice — Issuance of process — Time of hearing.
Section 15-5-14.1. - Automatic orders in divorce cases.
Section 15-5-15. - Orders as to notice.
Section 15-5-16. - Alimony and counsel fees — Custody of children.
Section 15-5-16.1. - Assignment of property.
Section 15-5-16.1.1. - Deferment of sale of home.
Section 15-5-16.2. - Child support.
Section 15-5-16.2.1. - Credit rating.
Section 15-5-16.2.2. - Service of court papers at work.
Section 15-5-16.2.3. - Continuances — Compensation for lost wages.
Section 15-5-16.2.4. - Retroactive modification of child support.
Section 15-5-16.2.5. - Repealed.
Section 15-5-16.3. - Allowance regarded as judgment for debt.
Section 15-5-16.4. - Judgment assigning real property — Effect.
Section 15-5-16.5. - Interest on arrearages.
Section 15-5-16.6. - Security, bond, or guarantee to secure payment of overdue support.
Section 15-5-16.7. - Review of child support orders.
Section 15-5-17. - Change of name.
Section 15-5-18. - Interlocutory decrees and injunctions.
Section 15-5-19.1. - Restraining orders — Notification of local authorities — Notice of penalty.
Section 15-5-20. - Service on or notice to defendant.
Section 15-5-21. - Service by publication — Jurisdiction acquired.
Section 15-5-22. - Trial required — Collusion.
Section 15-5-23. - Final judgment — Remarriage.
Section 15-5-24. - Support — Wage assignment procedures.
Section 15-5-24.1. - Visitation rights of grandparents.
Section 15-5-24.3. - Visitation rights — Grandparents and siblings.
Section 15-5-24.4. - Sibling visitation rights.
Section 15-5-25. - Application for wage withholding — Obligor in arrears.
Section 15-5-27. - Order for wage withholding — Duration.
Section 15-5-28. - Judgment or order as lien on property — Duration — Effect.
Section 15-5-29. - Mediation proceedings involving custody and/or visitation.