Can an employer waive the statutory limitation on liability provisions of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) which limits the amount an employee can recover in a lawsuit for disability discrimination? Put more simply, can a damages cap be waived? The Federal District Court,…
Yesterday, the First Circuit ruled in favor of the Maine Employee Rights Group’s (MERG) client Brian Bell in a disability discrimination case. MERG attorney Allan Townsend argued to the First Circuit that the trial judge gave an erroneous jury instruction during the trial and the First Circuit agreed. As a…
State and Federal laws prohibit discrimination in hiring. Illegal discrimination occurs when an employer fails to hire due to a job applicant’s age, race, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and other protected traits. Discrimination during the hiring process can often be subtle or overlooked. Employees should be concerned…
In Buffalo N.Y. a small group of nursing and health care facilities, Absolut Care LLC, will pay $465,000 to settle a pregnancy and disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The suit charges Absolut Care with failing to accommodate disabled workers, denying leave as an…
This week a federal judge in Connecticut held that an employer violated a medical marijuana user’s rights when it refused to hire her due to a positive drug test. The woman uses medical marijuana, which is legal in Connecticut, to treat her post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The woman sued the…
Last month the Maine Supreme Court struck a blow against medical marijuana users and the marijuana industry in Maine. In the case, a worker who sustained a work-related injury received a prescription for marijuana to treat his pain. Maine’s Workers Compensation Board ordered the employer to cover the cost of…
Last week, a federal judge held that a jury could reasonably find that Hannaford fired one of the Maine Employee Rights Group’s (MERG) clients because of his age, disabilities, and need for medical leave. MERG’s client worked for Hannaford for over thirty years and served as the Produce Manager at…
This week a Federal judge in Maine denied, in large part, Hannaford’s motion to throw out a lawsuit filed by the Maine Employee Rights Group (MERG). MERG argued that Hannaford violated disability discrimination and medical leave laws when it refused to modify our client’s schedule. As a result, the case is…
Starbucks has decided to institute company-wide training on implicit bias. The company’s decision came on the heels of an incident where Starbucks employees called the police to remove some black people from the store for doing something that white people do all the time. These black people were waiting for…
Last week, a federal judge held that a jury could reasonably find that O’Reilly Auto violated the rights of a Maine Employee Rights Group (MERG) client when it (a) refused to provide him with a reasonable accommodation for his disabilities, (b) discriminated against him because of his disabilities, and (c)…