• Thank you for all your help on [AW's] case. Without you, nothing would have come from it. We will be sending people your way. We hope that we will not need your help again, but if we do you will be hearing from us.”

    - J.W., East Machias.

  • We appreciate everything you have done for us. You made this whole process much easier on [P.C.] and me. Words cannot express our gratitude.”

    - K.C., Sanford.

  • Thank you for your efforts and hard work in resolving my case. Your leadership and initiatives were outstanding. I felt truly represented, respected and was treated with honesty and integrity. We are grateful for a positive result and grateful for the excellent teamwork!”

    - L.D., Portland.

  • I want to thank you and your staff for all you and they did. The professional and compassionate way my case was handled is greatly appreciated. It was a pleasure to do business with your firm and if the need ever arises I will be back in touch. Thank you again.”

    - M.H., Bangor.
Published on:

By

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) on a vote of 64-32. The bill would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against employees and applicants because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. While the Maine Human Rights Act already prohibits discrimination against GLBT individuals, such discrimination is legal under federal law and in 29 states. Both of Maine’s senators voted in favor of ENDA.

“All Americans deserve a fair opportunity to pursue the American dream. Over the years, we have rightly taken a stand against workplace discrimination based on race, sex, national origin, religion, age, and disability. It is past time we ensure that all employees are judged on their talents, abilities, their hard work, and capabilities by closing an important gap in federal law as it relates to sexual orientation,” said U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME). “I am pleased to be a long-time supporter and original cosponsor of ENDA. This bill deserves support as a matter of fairness and as a matter of civil rights. It is a commonsense solution, consistent with existing federal civil rights laws, and it will not place an undue burden on American employers. Moreover, it is simply the right thing to do.”

“The Employment Non-Discrimination Act is the next step in this country’s long movement toward ensuring basic civil rights protections for all of its citizens,” said U.S. Senator Angus King (I-ME). “For far too long, LGBT individuals across the country have experienced harassment or lost their jobs simply because of who they are. ENDA will bring an end to these discriminatory practices by extending basic employment protections to millions of American employees, ensuring that individuals will be judged on the basis of their talent, skills, and experience, rather than sexual orientation or gender identity. Today’s vote marks a step forward for human rights and a step forward for America.”

Continue reading →
Published on:

By

Earlier this month, the Labor and Workforce Development Committee of the Massachusetts House voted in favor of a bill that would prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of height and weight. The bill would add height and weight to the list of characteristics that employers already may not use to discriminate against employees, such as race, sex, and religion.

A doctor who testified in support of the bill said that he had treated countless patients who suffered from discrimination because of their weight. He testified that he thinks discrimination against overweight people has become socially acceptable because of the common misconception that obesity is a character flaw.

Maine and federal law do not ban discrimination on the basis of height and weight. However, if your employer has discriminated against you because you are morbidly obese, you may be able to pursue a claim for disability discrimination. Some courts have found that morbid obesity is a disability. Height and weight requirements can also be used to discriminate against women and people with disabilities which affect their height, such as people with dwarfism. If an employer requires employees to be tall, that requirement could be illegal because of its disparate impact on women (who are, on average, shorter than men) and people with disabilities like dwarfism.

Published on:

By

Last week, a U.S. District Court in Massachusetts rejected New England Investment and Retirement Group’s (NEINV) argument that it could lawfully fire an employee who reported to NEINV’s compliance officer that NEINV was violating securities laws. Specifically, the whistleblower, a financial planner who worked in NEINV’s North Andover, Mass. office, reported that NEINV was distributing misleading investment reports to its customers in violation of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act. NEINV fired the whistleblower before he could bring his concerns to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but the SEC did ultimately find that NEINV violated securities laws and fined it $200,000.

NEINV argued that because it fired the whistleblower before he brought his concerns to the SEC, the Dodd-Frank Act’s whistleblower protections did not apply to him. The court rejected this argument and, instead, adopted the SEC’s interpretation of Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower provision. According to the court, “[i]t is apparent from the wording and positioning of [Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower protection provision] that Congress intended that an employee terminated for reporting Sarbanes-Oxley violations to a supervisor or an outside compliance officer, and ultimately to the SEC, have a private right of action under Dodd-Frank whether or not the employer wins the race to the SEC’s door with a termination notice.”

Dodd-Frank’s whistleblower protections are one of many whistleblower protections that exist under federal law. Rather than a single unified whistleblower law that protects employees who oppose unlawful activity from retaliation, federal law has many different whistleblower laws. As this case from Mass. demonstrates, the question of whether federal law protects a whistleblower is sometimes complicated. In Maine, there is a single unified whistleblower law called the Maine Whistleblower Protection Act (MWPA) but figuring out whether an employee is protected under the MWPA is also sometimes complicated. For instance, under a decision from Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court, a whistleblower who opposes the unlawful activity of someone other than their own employer may not have protection under the MWPA. So, if you are thinking about blowing the whistle on unlawful activity or you have already blown the whistle, you should contact an experienced employment lawyer to learn more about your rights.

Published on:

By

Earlier this month, California passed a law which will prohibit employers from discriminating against employees who were victims of domestic violence. A domestic violence victim named Carie Charlesworth championed this legislation after her employer fired her because her abusive ex-husband showed up at her workplace. Charlesworth worked at a school and, rather than support her, the school chose to fire her in order to address the problem. The District of Columbia is also considering a law similar to the one passed in California.

“Victims will no longer fear losing their livelihoods and being re-victimized in the workplace because of the actions of their abusers. They will no longer fear retribution if they talk about these issues with an employer. And we will no longer send the mistaken message to employees that silence about these issues in the workplace is the same as safety,” said Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara.

Maine does not prohibit employment discrimination against domestic violence victims. There is a law in Maine, however, which requires employers to provide victims of domestic violence with time off from work with or without pay to prepare for and attend court proceedings; receive medical treatment; or obtain necessary services to remedy a crisis caused by domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Employers must provide an employee with this leave if the employee or the employee’s daughter, son, parent, or spouse is a victim of violence, assault, sexual assault, stalking, or any act that would support a protection from abuse order.

Continue reading →
Published on:

By

Last month, the U.S. Department of Labor announced new regulations that will require employers to pay home care workers the minimum wage and overtime pay. Home care workers provide essential home care assistance to elderly people and people with illnesses, injuries or disabilities. In 2007, Maine passed a law which provided these same types of workers with minimum wage and overtime protections. Home care workers are particularly essential in Maine since Maine is the nation’s oldest state.

Dennis Fitzgibbons, chair of the Maine State Independent Living Council, has advocated for better pay for home care workers. “All of us who live with a disability want to go on with our lives as we see fit to the greatest extent possible,” said Fitzgibbons. “While we may solicit support from families and friends, we often need professional direct care workers to assist us as well. When we enlist their services, we expect the highest quality possible, and we owe them something in return.”

These new federal regulations will go into effect on January 1, 2015. If you are a home care worker and you do not receive the minimum wage or overtime pay, you should contact an experienced employment lawyer to learn more about your rights.

Published on:

By

Earlier this year, the Maine Human Rights Commission determined that Greyhound Lines, the bus company, violated the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) when it failed to provide reasonable accommodations to a passenger who needed those accommodations because she had health issues, including morbid obesity. It found that the passenger’s health issues fell under the MHRA’s definition of “disability” and that Greyhound’s actions constituted disability discrimination. The same definition of disability in this Greyhound case applies in employment discrimination cases. As such, employers may violate the MHRA’s disability discrimination provisions if they refuse to provide reasonable accommodations to or discriminate against morbidly obese employees.

For example, earlier this year in Kentucky, an appellate court held that an employer engaged in disability discrimination, in violation of Kentucky state law, when it fired a morbidly obese employee because of her morbidly obese appearance. In that case, a medical expert testified that the employee’s morbid obesity was caused by a physiological condition–which was key to the court’s decision. The court borrowed the reasoning from federal courts that have interpreted the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and concluded that morbid obesity may only constitute a disability if there’s evidence that a physiological disorder has caused it.

If you need reasonable accommodations to do your job because you are morbidly obese and your employer refuses to provide you with those accommodations or your employer has discriminated against you because of your morbidly obese appearance, you should contact an experienced employment lawyer to learn more about your rights.

Published on:

By

Yesterday, New York City’s City Council passed a law that would prohibit employers from discriminating against pregnant employees just because they need a reasonable accommodation to continue working during their pregnancy. This is an important advance for pregnant employees because, apart from the accommodations that they routinely provide to non-pregnant employees, employers do not have to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees under New York state law or federal law. Under New York City’s new law, an employer would, for example, have to relieve a pregnant employee of certain tasks that required heavy lifting unless doing so would pose an undue hardship for the employer.

While it may seem contrary to common sense, both federal and Maine law do not require employers to provide pregnant employees with reasonable accommodations. As a result, many pregnant women jeopardize their health because their employers won’t provide them with reasonable accommodations. For instance, in New York City, a pregnant retail worker reportedly passed out and needed emergency medical care because her employer refused to permit her to carry a water bottle with her during the work day.

Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in the Maine legislature that was similar to the law passed in New York City but the bill was not passed. There is also a similar bill in Congress called the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act that has not yet gained traction either.

Published on:

By

The party in control of the Quebec provincial government, Parti Quebecois, is trying to pass a law which would prohibit public employees from wearing religious headwear such as hijabs, turbans, and yarmulkes. Parti Quebecois is a political party that wants Quebec to separate from Canada and become its own sovereign nation. Ironically, this new law banning religious headwear could provoke more Canadian involvement in Quebec’s affairs because the federal Canadian government may seek to block the law in court.

The Quebec Liberal Party strongly opposes the proposed law. “The big mistake that the government is making is to make people believe that, in order to defend what is specific about Quebec, we must trample on other people’s rights,” said Philippe Couillard, the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party.

In Maine, there are federal and state (MHRC Reg. 3.10(C)) laws which would prohibit any employer from instituting a blanket ban on all religious headwear. Employers must reasonably accommodate the religious beliefs of their employees. If an employee wears headwear due to a sincere religious belief, the employer must permit the employee to wear it at work unless the employer can show that permitting the employee to wear the religious headwear would cause it to suffer an “undue hardship.”

Published on:

By

The U.S. District Court in Massachusetts recently ruled in favor of John H. Ray III, a former associate of the law firm Ropes & Gray, on his retaliation claims against the law firm. After Ray filed a charge against the firm with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleging race discrimination, partners with the firm refused to provide him with recommendation letters. Ray needed these recommendation letters as he searched for another job because the firm had refused to make him a partner and, as a result, terminated his employment. The EEOC found that Ropes & Gray had not discriminated against Ray on the basis of his race. However, the EEOC did find that the firm retaliated against Ray because he filed a charge of discrimination against it. After the EEOC made its findings, Ropes & Gray provided the legal media website Above the Law with the EEOC’s finding on the discrimination charge–but not the retaliation charge–seemingly for the purpose of depicting Ray as someone who filed a frivolous complaint.

The court held that a jury could reasonably conclude that Ropes & Gray retaliated against Ray when (a) the partners in the firm decided that they would no longer provide Ray with letters of recommendation and (b) the firm provided Above the Law with information on the EEOC’s finding with respect to only the discrimination complaint, and not the retaliation complaint.

This case illustrates how employers will sometimes retaliate against workers who accused them of discrimination even after the workers no longer work for them. Some of the more common types of post-termination retaliation include challenging claims for unemployment compensation and providing false and derogatory information about the worker in response to a request for a reference. If a former employer has retaliated against you for filing a discrimination complaint, you should contact an experienced employment lawyer to learn more about your rights.

Published on:

By

New Jersey recently enacted a new law which would make it illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee who asked co-workers about their job titles, occupational categories, and rates of pay for purposes of determining if pay discrimination had occurred. Maine already has a similar law (26 M.R.S.A. § 628) which makes it illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee because he or she suspects his or her employer is paying him or her less than workers of the opposite sex. Some, but not all, states have similar laws and many worker advocates have urged Congress to pass similar federal legislation as part of the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Employer policies prohibiting employees from discussing their pay rates with one another oftentimes have the effect of keeping pay discrimination hidden. For instance, in Ledbetter v. Goodyear, a famous pay discrimination case that led to the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Ms. Ledbetter found out she was making less than similarly situated men years after the pay inequality began, in part, because of a policy at Goodyear which required employees to keep their rates of pay confidential.

If you suspect that you have experienced pay discrimination on the basis of your sex, you may ask what your co-workers earn to determine if you are correct. However, before you do so, you may want to contact an experienced employment lawyer to determine how best to make those inquiries.

Contact Information
92 Exchange St
Portland, ME 04101
Phone: 207-874-0905Fax: 207-874-0343
23 Water St
#207
Bangor, ME 04401
Phone: 800-596-0662

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2015 – 2026, Maine Employee Rights Group
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design