MAINE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION

 

COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES

Senator Conference Center (Best Western) Embassy Room

284 Western Ave ~ Augusta, Maine

 

August 11, 2008

 

 

 

Chair Paul Vestal called the August 11, 2008, Commission meeting to order at 8:29 a.m. Present were Commissioners Paul Vestal, Jadine O’Brien, Sallie Chandler and Joseph Perry.

 

Chair Vestal called for adoption of the Agenda.

 

·          Executive Director Patricia Ryan requested that case E07-0347: Caitlin V. Town of Turner be removed from the Agenda due to settlement.

 

·          Executive Director Patricia Ryan requested that the litigation discussion be moved to the end of the Agenda to be discussed in Executive Session.

 

 

Commissioner Perry moved, seconded by Commissioner O’Brien to adopt the agenda as amended. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

 

MINUTES

Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner O’Brien to adopt the Minutes of the June 30, 2008 Commission meeting.3 in favor, 1abstained (Perry)

 

 

CONSENT AGENDA

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler, to accept the Investigator’s recommendations in each of the cases on the Consent Agenda. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

 

DIRECTOR’S REPORT

 

Quarterly Inventory Status Report & Resolutions:- As of the end of July 2008, there were 771 open cases. The Commission closed 159 cases during the quarter. 44 of those cases were closed providing some benefit to Complainants. The monetary amount recovered for Complainants during that time period was $560,423.

 

Training & Education: - Commissioners reviewed Fran Davis’s July 31, 2008 report and it was placed in the file.

 

Litigation: Commissioners agreed to move this item to the end of the agenda.

 

Financial Report: Commissioners reviewed the Quarterly Financial Review for Fiscal Year 2008 and it was placed in the file.

 

 

ADMINISTRATION

Personnel Report –Commissioners reviewed Director Ryan’s August 5, 2008 report and it was placed in the file.

 

 

COMPLIANCE

Compliance Report – Commissioners reviewed Fran Davis’ report of August 5, 2008 and it was placed on file.

 

Conciliation Agreements:

 

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to accept the conciliation agreement in Sally Gentile obo Roland Small v. Coffee Couple DBA Tim Hortons (Houlton):

4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

INVESTIGATION

 

New Charges – Commission staff opened 65 new cases in June.

 

Administrative Dismissals - Commission staff administratively dismissed 13 Cases in June and 22 cases in July.

 

Pre-determination Settlements – During the months of June & July, investigators were responsible for obtaining settlements in 7 cases. Total monetary relief amounted to $93,300.00

 

 

 

At 8:37AM Chair Vestal called for a 10 minute recess. The meeting resumed at 8:45 a.m.

 

 

 

CASES VOTED ON

 

The Chair announced that case H08-0048 would be taken out of order and considered second on the agenda.

 

·          E06-0592: Judy Alley (Augusta) v. McLeod Optical Company, Inc. (Augusta): Attorney Elly Burnett restated the position of the Complainant. Attorney Richard Moon restated the position of the Respondent. Investigator Michele Dion summarized the facts of the case. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          H08:0048: Daniel Boggs (Biddeford) v. Kimberly Eaton (Biddeford). Daniel Boggs restated his position. Kimberly Eaton restated her position. Investigator Angela Tizon summarized the facts of the case. Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful housing discrimination because of disability or sexual orientation has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          E07-0353: Jonathan Perales (Orrington) v. Movie Gallery (Bucksport). Neither party was present. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of race, ancestry, and whistleblower’s has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          E07-0383: Gwendolyn Julien (Bangor) v. St. Joseph Hospital (Bangor) Neither party was present. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          E07-0390: Donald Crocker (E Poland) v. Cianbro Corporation (Pittsfield) Donald Crocker restated his position. Michael Bennett of Cianbro restated the position of the Respondent. Investigator Paul Pierce summarized the facts of the case. Commissioner Perry moved seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find that no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          E07-0458: Keith Geary (Westbrook) v. Bradco Supply Co. (Portland). ) Attorney Elizabeth Ernst restated the position of the Respondent. Attorney Chad Hanson restated the position of the Complainant. Investigator Paul Pierce summarized the facts of the case. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination has occurred because of disability. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          E07-0460: Jacob Woodbury (Old Town) v. Dystarts, Inc. (Bangor)). Neither party was present. Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because disability has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          E07-0720: Brian Blair (Livermore Falls) v. Econo Lodge (Augusta). Neither party was present. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          H08-0019: Connie Morse (Chelsea) v. Leo Barnett (Belgrade). Neither party was present. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful housing discrimination because of sexual harassment has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          PA/ED08-0059: Julie Poole o/b/o minor (Brunswick) v. Brunswick School Department. Neither party was present. Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful public accommodation discrimination because of race/color has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

·          H08-0076: Carleton Greely (S. Portland) v. S. Portland Congregate Housing Authority et. al. Neither party was present. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful housing discrimination because of disability or retaliation has occurred. 4 in favor, 0 opposed.

 

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to move into Executive Session to discuss litigation with Commission Counsel pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. §405(6)E. 4 in favor, 0 opposed. (10:30 a.m.)

 

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to move out of Executive Session. 4 in favor, 0 opposed. (10:41a.m.)

 

 

LITIGATION:

 

·          Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to not to file a complaint in case E06-0332 Rich Matthews o/b/o Lena Rich v. Center for Teaching & Learning, Nancy Atwell & Board of Directors, but to monitor the case for the standards applied.4 in favor, 0 opposed

 

 

There being no further business to come before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned. (10:42 a.m.)

 

 

 

The consent agenda is a listing of cases scheduled on the Commission’s meeting agenda in which there is no written disagreement to the Investigator’s recommendation. Commissioners consider these cases without oral argument by the parties.   MAINE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AUGUST 11, 2008 COMMISSION MEETING CONSENT AGENDA
	E06-0422:	Charles Smith (Wells) v. H.D. Goodall Hospital (Sanford)	NRG
	PA06-0508:	Terry Elwell (Warren) v. Correctional Medical Services (MO)	NRG
	PA06-0509:	Terry Elwell (Warren) v. State of Maine/Dept. of Corrections/Prison (Warren)	NRG
	PA08-0138:	Terry Elwell (Warren) v. State of Maine/Dept. of Corrections/Prison (Warren)	NRG
	E07-0004:	April White (Augusta) v. Yarmouth Veterinary Center (Yarmouth)	NRG
	E07-0354:	Thomas Denney (Portland) v. Cumberland Farms (Portland)	NRG
	E07-0447:	Wallace Collins (Portland) v. Eagle Landing (Westbrook)	NRG
	PA/ED07-0474:	Tammy Jodrey o/b/o minor (Rumford) v. MSAD #43 (Rumford)	NRG
	E07-0482:	Carmen Small (Robbinston) v. Washington County Psychotherapy Assn (Machias)	NRG
	E07-0485:	Lindsey Hawkins (N Waterboro) v. Nappi Distributors (Gorham)	RG/NRG
	E07-0506:	Bruce Mason (Richmond) v. Bath Iron Works (Bath)	NRG
	E07-0541:	Denise Cyr (Augusta) v. Rainbow Federal Credit Union (Lewiston)	RG
	E07-0625:	Matthew Nowak (Windham) v. Hannaford Brothers (Portland)	NRG