No employer shall discharge or discipline an employee or refuse to hire a person for reason that an assignment of earnings has been presented in settlement of a support debt or that a support lien or order to withhold and deliver has been served against said employee's earnings. If an employer discharges or disciplines an employee or refuses to hire a person in violation of this section, the employee or person shall have a cause of action against the employer. The employer shall be liable for double the amount of lost wages and any other damages suffered as a result of the violation and for costs and reasonable attorney fees, and shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than two thousand five hundred dollars for each violation. The employer may also be ordered to hire, rehire, or reinstate the aggrieved individual.
[ 1985 c 276 § 11; 1973 1st ex.s. c 183 § 21; 1971 ex.s. c 164 § 23.]