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AUGUSTA

State panel backs worker's claim of discrimination

Human rights panel voted to find reasonable grounds

By Betty Adams badams@centralmaine.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA -- A human rights panel voted to find reasonable grounds Monday that a Clinton man whose job was terminated while he was out on sick leave was a victim of disability discrimination.

Stephen Dostie had complained to the Maine Human Rights Commission that his termination from Associated Grocers of Maine Inc., of Gardiner, violated the Maine Human Rights Act.

Commission findings are not law but may become grounds for lawsuits.

Dostie, a former Clinton Town Office employee and former school board member in School Administrative District 49, worked for Associated Grocers from Feb. 25, 2008, to Sept. 10, 2008 -- first as a bakery buyer, then as director of the grocery, dairy and frozen-food procurement department, according to the commission's investigation.

The company maintained Dostie's job was eliminated by budget cuts and because company officials did not believe he was unable to work while he was out sick.

The company hired a private investigator to trail Dostie, and the investigator reported seeing him doing normal activities in his yard and driving his car while out on sick leave, according to attorney John B. Cole, who represented Associated Grocers at Monday's hearing at the Senator Inn in Augusta.

Cole said the company provided a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason -- financial exigency -- for terminating Dostie's job, which saved the company a projected $75,451, according to a report by commission investigator Angela Tizón.

"Dostie was out of work on paid sick leave for three weeks in August 2008 with what he believed at the time to be symptoms of Crohn's diseases, but which he later discovered were due to his bipolar disorder," Tizón wrote.

Dostie requested short-term disability paperwork on Sept. 7, 2008, and Sept. 9, 2008, and got a letter Sept. 10, 2008, saying his job was eliminated for financial reasons.

Tizón concluded that Dostie's disability "was a likely factor in the company's decision to eliminate his position" and that "they doubted his commitment to the company while out sick, based on his failure to respond to important e-mails."

Cole said Dostie failed to respond to e-mails from the company president seeking budget input.

"He only communicated about his disability status," Cole said.

Cole said Dostie had an obligation to respond to the e-mail -- and had been using e-mail with the company officials -- even if all Dostie said was he couldn't help.

Commissioner Kenneth Fredette asked Cole about instances in which employees who might be on active duty with the military would be obligated to respond to employer inquiries.

"I'm wondering where the slippery slope ends here," Fredette said.

At the hearing, Dostie told commissioners he used sick time and vacation time that was available to him. He said he learned the company hired the private investigator after calling Clinton police to report someone following him in an unidentified vehicle.

"How does a person with bipolar or Crohn's disease act outside his home?" Dostie asked.

The commissioners voted 5-0 to find reasonable grounds that Dostie was a victim of disability discrimination and that conciliation efforts should begin.

Betty Adams -- 621-5631

badams@centralmaine.com