The U.S. Supreme Court will consider this question next week when it hears arguments in Thompson v. North American Stainless. According to court filings, in September 2002, Eric Thompson’s wife (who was his fiance at the time) filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) against her employer,…
Nurses at Eastern Maine Medical Center (“EMMC”) went on strike November 22, 2010 because they and EMMC have not reached agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement. The nurses’ union and hospital management cannot reach agreement on the issue of staffing levels. The nurses believe that EMMC has dangerously cut…
Maine’s U.S. Senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, voted with the rest of the Republican party today to filibuster the Paycheck Fairness Act. The filibuster effectively killed this piece of legislation. Members of Congress drafted the Paycheck Fairness Act to address persistent wage inequality between men and women. Even though…
On November 9, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued final regulations to implement the Genetic Information Non-Discrimination Act (GINA). According to the EEOC, “Congress enacted GINA with strong bipartisan support in 2008, in response to concerns that patients would decline to take advantage of the increasing availability of…
On November 1, 2010, the Maine Human Rights Commission (MHRC) found that Central City Sheet Metal, Inc. discriminated against Patrick Michaud because of his disability when it terminated his employment. Central City Sheet Metal terminated Mr. Michaud on November 25, 2008. Prior to his termination, Mr. Michaud had worked for…
Fred Cyr, the former chief operator of Gardiner’s waste-water treatment plant, claims that the city forced him out of his job because he complained about health and safety issues at the plant. More specifically, he claims that he complained about vandalism which, in some instances, caused raw sewage to leak…
On October 20, 2010 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) held a public meeting to hear testimony about the way employers use credit history checks to screen job applicants. Some believe that credit checks have a disparate impact on minorities, women and the disabled. Opponents of the use of credit…
On October 13, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Kasten v. St. Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. In Kasten, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in Chicago, held that St. Gobain did not violate the law when it retaliated against Mr. Kasten because he complained about St. Gobain’s…
In a federal lawsuit, the former Town Manager of Stonington, Maine, Howard Willingham, claims that the Town discriminated against him on the basis of his disability. The Town filed a motion that asked the court to dismiss the case. The Town argued that Mr. Willingham did not file his lawsuit…
A disturbing sign in workplaces across the country is the rise of discrimination against Muslims. According to data collected by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), complaints of religious discrimination from Muslims in 2010 are 20% higher than in 2009. Although Muslims comprise less than 2% of the U.S.…