The City of Ships, Bath is home to approximately 8,500 people. The City's shipbuilding tradition began 400 years ago when the first ship built by New World settlers, the Virginia, was launched 12 miles downriver from Bath, and continues today at Bath Iron Works. During WWII, ships built at Bath Iron Works were considered by sailors and Navy officials to be of superior toughness, giving rise to the phrase "Bath-built is best-built." Just before Bath on Route 1 is Brunswick, the gateway to Maine's mid-coast region. Brunswick is home to approximately 20,000 as well as Bowdoin College. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the famed novel Uncle Tom's Cabin while she was living in Brunswick with her husband who was a professor at Bowdoin College. Prior to becoming Maine's governor and a United States Senator, Angus King practiced law in Brunswick.
Maine Employee Rights Group represents Bath-Brunswick employees in all types of employment discrimination litigation. Examples of cases we have recently handled for Bath-Brunswick employees include:
Disclosure of Confidential Medical InformationOur firm represented a designer at a major defense contractor, who was terminated after the company doctor disclosed the fact that he had Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) to management. We filed suit in federal court, alleging that the company breached its duty under the Americans with Disabilities Act to keep our client's medical information confidential and separate from other personnel information, and that breach of duty led to our client being terminated. This case presented a challenge as our client had failed to disclose his condition during the medical screening process and only revealed it later to a supervisor when it interfered with some of his work duties. The company fought vigorously to get the case dismissed on the grounds that our client intentionally hid his medical condition which we disputed. We convinced the court that the law protected our client's confidential medical information regardless of whether it was discovered during the medical screening process or later. The company has engaged in lobbying efforts before the Legislature to change the medical confidentiality law. Our client's case was settled in mediation.
Failure to pay WagesWe represented a caretaker of a private estate who worked 60-plus hours per week but was denied overtime pay and then forced to sign an agreement waiving his right to recover the overtime he was due. Wage and hour cases require experienced legal representation as the laws are complex and there are numerous exemptions under federal and state law. Our experienced wage and hour counsel knew that any agreement in which our client purported to waive his right to overtime he was due would be null and void in court under the Fair Labor Standards Act. We also dealt with a change in state wage and hour law exempting domestic servants from overtime pay and avoided a potential statute of limitations issue by introducing evidence that the employer knew its pay arrangement with our client violated the law. We were able to obtain a monetary settlement for our client without going to court.
If you have been terminated because of your disability or denied overtime pay, call Maine Employee Rights Group today for a consultation, 207.874.0905.