COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES

Senator Conference Center (Best Western) Embassy Room

284 Western Ave ~ Augusta, Maine

October 27, 2008

Chair Paul Vestal called the October 27, 2008 Commission meeting to order at 8:31 a.m.   Present were Commissioners:

Paul Vestal, Chair

Jadine O’Brien

Joe Perry

Sallie Chandler

Paul Vestal called for adoption of the agenda.

• Executive Director Patricia Ryan requested that case E07-0141: Serrano v. UNO Restaurants be moved to the beginning of the Agenda to utilize interpreter services .

• Executive Director Patricia Ryan requested that case E07:0928: Cavanna v. Cianbro Corporation be removed from the Agenda due to settlement between the parties.

• Executive Director Patricia Ryan requested discussion of Cyr v. Rainbow Federal Credit Union, E07-0541, be added to the agenda under conciliation .

• Executive Director Patricia Ryan requested that her memo regarding case E08-0251be discussed in Executive session as it is an open case.

• Executive Director Patricia Ryan requested that case E07-0523: Shuper v. Disability Reinsurance Management Service, Inc. be considered prior to adopting the agenda, as a right to sue letter had been requested.  

• Commissioners discussed Executive Director Ryan’s 10/14/2008 memo recommending that a right to sue letter be issued in this case based on Complainant’s request, and Respondent’s concurrence.   Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner O’Brien to allow a right to sue letter be issued.   4 in favor 0 opposed.

• Executive Director Ryan than requested that case E07-0523, Shuper v. Disablity Reinsurance Management Service, Inc. be removed from the agenda.

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

CONSENT AGENDA (see list attached)

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

MINUTES

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to correct the minutes as follows and adopt the corrected version:

              p. 2 new business:   Commission Counsel John Gause reviewed the Law Court’s recent decision in Costain v. Sunbury Primary Care, Inc., which had been distributed to the Commissioners on September 17, 2008.   Mr. Gause reviewed his September 18, 2008, memorandum and proposed that the Commission file an amicus brief in E05-0558, Linda Watt v. Unifirst Corporation.   .        4 in favor, 0 opposed

QUARTERLY PROGRAM REVIEW:

Inventory Status Report & Resolutions:  There were 865 open cases at the end of September 2008.   The Commission closed 132 cases during the preceding quarter.   35 of those cases were closed providing some benefit to Complainants.   The monetary amount recovered for Complainants during that time period was $284,527.

Training and Education – Commissioners reviewed Compliance Officer Fran Davis’ report and it was placed on file.

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

Financial Report -   Commissioners reviewed the quarterly financial report and it was placed in the file.

ADMINISTRATION:

Personnel Report –Commissioners Reviewed the report and it was placed in the file.

COMPLIANCE

Compliance Report - Commissioners reviewed Fran Davis’ report for October and it was placed on file.  

CONCILIATION AGREEMENTS

E07-0541:   Cyr v. Rainbow Federal Credit Union.   Commissioners reviewed the terms of the agreement entered into between the parties.   Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner O’Brien to dismiss the case.   4 in favor, 0 opposed.

INVESTIGATION

• New Charges:   Commission staff opened 66 new cases in September.
• Administrative Dismissals: Commission staff administratively dismissed 9 cases in     September.
• Pre-determination Settlements: During the month of September investigators were responsible for obtaining settlements in 12 cases resulting in a total monetary relief of $42,280.00.

NEW BUSINESS:  

Executive Director Ryan and Commission Counsel Gause discussed a revision to the Service Animal Guidance, which had previously been forwarded to the Commissioners.   Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry, to adopt the revised Guidance.   4 in favor, 0 opposed.

At 8:44 am Commissioner Vestal called for a recess.

CASES VOTED ON:

• E07-0087:      Ralph Bernaquer (Ellsworth) v. Jackson Laboratories ( Bar Harbor): Ralph Bernaquer restated the position of the Complainant. Mae Landesman restated the position of the Respondent. Investigator Robert Beauchesne restated the facts of the case. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Vestal to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability has occurred.    2 in favor, 2 opposed. (Perry & Chandler opposed)   Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability has occurred.    2 in favor, 2 opposed (Vestal and O’Brien opposed).

Because a majority of the Commission did not find reasonable grounds, the decision is that no reasonable grounds exists to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability has occurred.

• E07-0141: Jose Serrano ( Portland) v. Uno Restaurants, LLC (MA):   Attorney Beth Gallie restated the position of the Complainant. Attorney Leonard Zamansky restated the position of the Respondent. Chief Investigator Barbara Lelli restated 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.   3 in favor, 1 opposed. (Perry opposed)

• E07-0241:      Jacqueline Wyman (Gorham) v. Standard Insurance Co (OR):   Attorney Gary Libby restated the position of the Complainant. Attorney Francis Barnwell restated the position of the Respondent. Investigator Angela Tiz òn restated the facts of the case. 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.

• E07-0273:      James Ross, PhD (Skowhegan) v. Education Management Corp d/b/a Art Institute of Pittsburgh (PA):   Complainant was not present. Respondent was not present. Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of sex, retaliation or Whistleblowers’ Protection has occurred. 4 in favor,             0 opposed.

• E07-0300:      Bertrand Favreau (Topsham) v. Bisson Moving & Storage ( Bath):   Attorney Alan Townsend restated the position of the Complainant. Attorney Doug Currier restated the position of the Respondent. Investigator Angela Tiz òn restated the facts of the case. Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of age or disability has occurred.   4 in favor, 0 opposed.

• E07-0487:      Rebecca Dickinson ( Jefferson) v. Woodlands Assisted Living (Hallowell): Rebecca Dickinson restated the position of the Complainant.   Attorney Maura Gerrin restated the position of the Respondent.   Chief Investigator Barbara Lelli restated the facts of the case.   Commissioner O’Brien motioned, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability with regard to termination has occurred.    4 in favor,      0 opposed.   Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability due to reasonable accommodation has occurred.   2 in favor, 2 opposed. (Vestal & O’Brien opposed).   

Because a majority of the Commissioners did not find reasonable grounds, the decision is that no reasonable grounds exists to believe that unlawful employment discrimination because of disability due to reasonable accommodation has occurred.

• E07-0522:      Lauri Cox (Sanford) v. Seacoast Career Schools ( Sanford): Attorney Matthew Keegan restated the position of the Complainant.   Attorney Alex Leong restated the position of the Respondent.   Chief Investigator Barbara Lelli restated the facts of the case.   Commissioner O’Brien motioned, 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.  

The Chair announced that case H08-0281 would be taken out of order and considered next on the agenda.

• H08-0281:      Ixchel Maybury (Monmouth) v. Maine State Housing Authority (Augusta):   Attorney Patricia Ender restated the position of the Complainant. Attorney John Bobrowiecki restated the position of the Respondent.   Chief Investigator Barbara Lelli restated the facts of the case.   Commissioner O’Brien motioned, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to find reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful housing discrimination because of disability for failure to provide reasonable accommodations has occurred.    4 in favor,    0 opposed.

• E07-0528: Roberta Cheever (NH) v. Cliff House Resort & Spa (Ogunquit) &  E07-0528-A: Roberta Cheever (NH) v. P. Baldwin (Ogunquit): Roberta Cheever restated the position of the Complainant.   Attorney Douglas Currier  restated the position of the Respondent.   Commissioner O’Brien motioned, 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.  

• PA07-0554 à PA07-0618: Rhonda Chancey & Allan Coombs ( Canada) v. General Motors, ( Detroit, MI), Ford Motor Company ( Dearborn, MI), Chrysler LLC ( Auburn Hill, MI), and 59 car dealerships ( Maine): Stephanie Jazlowiecki & Rhonda Chancey restated the position of the Complainant. Attorney Michael Messerschmidt, Thomas Brown, and Attorney Meg LePage restated the position of the Respondent.   Commissioner O’Brien motioned, to find reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful public accommodation discrimination because of national origin and race has occurred. There was no second.   Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to find no reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful public accommodation discrimination because of national origin and race has occurred.   3 in favor,          1 opposed.  

Commissioner Chander Moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry add consideration of a conciliation agreement that had just been signed by the parties to the agenda and adopt the agreement:    E07-0143:    Ortiz v. Hamilton Sandblasting. 4 in favor, 0 opposed

At 12:57 p.m. Chair Vestal called for a recess.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to move into executive session to discuss an open case with the Executive Director and Commission Counsel pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A.§405(6)F.   4 in favor,   0 opposed

Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to move out of executive session.   4 in favor,  0 opposed

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler, to concur with the Executive Director’s decision not to administratively dismiss E08-0251.     4 in favor,      0 opposed

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

Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler to move out of executive session.   4 in favor,  0 opposed

LITIGATION:  

• Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner Perry to accept the conciliation agreement in H05-0472: Dawe v. Charles Ball.   4 in favor,    0 opposed

• Commissioner O’Brien moved, seconded by Commissioner Chandler not to file a lawsuit in  E07-0203: James Hamilton v. Town of Oakland.   4 in favor, 0 opposed

ADJOURN:   

At 1:45 p.m. Commissioner Chandler moved, seconded by Commissioner O’Brien to adjourn.    4 in favor,  0 opposed

CONSENT AGENDA:

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.