Maine Employment Lawyer Blog

Earlier this month, the Maine Senate Labor Committee voted to exempt DeCoster Egg Farms from Maine laws that require employers to pay employees a minimum wage, time-and-a-half for overtime, and allow them to form a union. Some of the Senators that voted to exempt DeCoster Egg Farms are reportedly having second thoughts. Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee Chairman Chris Rector (R-Thomaston) has told the Republican Senate leadership that, while he voted to exempt DeCoster Egg Farms in his committee, he has subsequently learned more about DeCoster Egg Farms which has convinced him to change his mind. "It is rare that I don't feel solid with my decisions, but if there was ever a situation where workers should have an opportunity to organize, this is it," said Rector. Dana Dow (R-Waldoboro) is also having second thoughts about voting to exempt DeCoster Egg Farms. "To tell you the truth, and I haven't said this before, if the workers there, if they had a union, they wouldn't have had the problems they did," said Dow, stressing that unions weren't just about salary. "In this case, I'm talking about safety, safety, safety," Dow said.

During a Senate hearing in April, former Maine Attorney General James Tierney testified that "for at least forty years, DeCoster Egg Farms has been a habitual violator of federal and state laws dealing with labor, immigration, safety, animal cruelty, environment and health." According to news reports, "DeCoster has also been synonymous with labor violations that include hiring 11-year-olds and a 9-year-old, recruiting and hiring illegal immigrants and helping them get fake working papers and improper removal of asbestos from barns. And that is just the beginning."

The bill being considered is L.D. 1207.

On May 16, 2011, the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) unanimously found that Total Property Services, Inc. unlawfully discriminated against Heather Hider because she was pregnant. Ms. Hider worked for Total Property Services as a cleaner from January 2009 to September 2009. According to the MHRC investigative report, Ms. Hider provided the MHRC with a recording of the phone message that her boss, Steve Booth, left her to tell her that she was fired. In the message, Mr. Booth told Ms. Hider he decided that he needed to replace her because she was pregnant and due to give birth soon.

In response to Ms. Hider's complaint to the MHRC, Total Property Services claimed that Mr. Booth no longer worked for it at the time he fired Ms. Hider. However, Mr. Booth continued to oversee Ms. Hider after his alleged separation from the company. Total Property Services also admitted that it told no one about Mr. Booth's alleged separation from the company. It didn't tell its employees or its customers. As such, the MHRC found that Mr. Booth continued to have the authority to fire Ms. Hider.

The Maine Employee Rights Group represents Ms. Hider.

On May 13, 2011, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals entered an opinion in Lewis v. City of Chicago. The case will now proceed to the stage where the trial court decides how to remedy Chicago's discrimination against African Americans who applied for firefighter positions. It is reported that Chicago will have to hire 111 African American firefighters and pay roughly $30 million to the people it discriminated against.

This was a "disparate impact" case. An employer can sometimes violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act even if it engages in a seemingly non-discriminatory practice, such as administering an entrance exam to job applicants. If the entrance exam does not predict which applicants will do the job better than others, and it has a significant disparate impact on women or minorities, the employer cannot use the exam to select applicants. If it does--as Chicago did in this case--it violates Title VII. When an employer uses a test to select applicants that does not measure applicants' aptitude for the job and that disproportionately screens out minorities, it is in everyone's interest to find a new test.

Justice Nancy Mills of the Cumberland County Superior Court has found that St. Joseph's Manor, now known as St. Joseph's Rehabilitation and Residence, subjected its employee Trudy Little to unlawful sexual harassment. Ms. Little worked for St. Joseph's as a cook. Her supervisor Joe Mitchell is the one who sexually harassed her. Among other things, Mr. Mitchell wrote Ms. Little sexually explicit letters. He sent her text messages two or three times per week, and some had sexual connotations. For instance, he once said that he would lay on the floor and stick a broom handle "up his butt." Mr. Mitchell also talked to Ms. Little about sex and made comments about the size of her breasts. St. Joseph's management was well aware of Mr. Mitchell's sexual harassment but all they did was tell him to "knock it off" or "stop." Consequently, the court found that St. Joseph's Manor did not do enough to stop Mr. Mitchell from sexually harassing Ms. Little.

Due to the sexual harassment she experienced, and the fact that it caused her to suffer from panic attacks, Ms. Little felt that she had no choice but to resign. While Justice Mills believed that Ms. Little experienced unlawful sexual harassment, she did not find that a reasonable person in Ms. Little's position would've felt she had no choice but to resign. This is not an uncommon result. Many courts have found that women have suffered unlawful sexual harassment while at the same time finding that a reasonable person in the woman's position would not have felt compelled to resign.

Justice Mills awarded Ms. Little $20,000 plus interest. Under the Maine Human Rights Act, St. Joseph's will likely have to pay Ms. Little's attorneys' fees and costs too. The Maine Employee Rights Group and Guy Loranger worked on behalf of Ms. Little to achieve this result.