Bar Harbor – Ellsworth, Maine Employment Lawyers

The summer colony of Bar Harbor is home to Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island, one of America’s most-visited national parks, with hundreds of miles of hiking and carriage trails along its rocky coast. “Rusticators” have flocked to Bar Harbor ever since the mid-1800’s to escape the pressures of city life. America’s richest families, including the Rockefellers, Fords, Vanderbilts and Carnegies built their summer “cottages” on Millionaire’s Row. Today, Bar Harbor is the primary campus of Jackson Laboratories and the College of the Atlantic. Bar Harbor has a sturdy year-round population of around 5000. On the way there, you pass through the City of Ellsworth, the seat of Hancock County and its commercial center. Ellsworth has been recognized as the fastest growing city in Maine, with Maine Coast Memorial Hospital as its largest employer.

Maine Employee Rights Group represents Bar Harbor – Ellsworth employees in all types of employment discrimination cases. Examples of recent cases we have handled include:

We represented an African American black male who worked for a large general contractor for three years providing skilled construction labor. During that time, the company foreman used racial slurs when talking to our client and sent our client an offensive text message depicting a white man wearing black face with exaggerated facial features. When our client complained that the foreman’s harassment was creating a hostile work environment, he became a pariah at work. Shortly after complaining, our client was slated for seasonal lay off, but eligible for rehire. When he went to collect his pay, the company refused to give it to him, citing performance reasons. Next season, the company advertised that it was recalling workers. Our client applied but was not recalled. The company had no legitimate reason for not recalling our client. We were able to tie the company’s allegations regarding our client’s performance to his foreman’s racial bias. We filed suit in federal court and case quickly settled.

We represented a woman who was fired from her job as a server at a local ice cream shop because she “did not fit the image” the shop owner was trying to create. Our client was an out lesbian. She was fired shortly after introducing her partner, a transgender female, to the owner. The owner was openly hostile to our client and her partner, at one point stating: “This is not the type of environment I am trying to foster here.” The owner gave inconsistent reasons for terminating our client to the Maine Human Rights Commission and the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation and retained straight employees who mishandled cash and talked on their cell phones while waiting on customers. Our client was the most responsible employee there. The case settled at the Maine Human Rights Commission. Maine law protects all individuals who are perceived as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender from discrimination in employment. Bar Harbor also has a town ordinance prohibiting such discrimination.

If you have been subjected to unequal treatment on the basis of race, color, or sexual orientation, call Maine Employee Rights Group today, 207.874.0905, for legal consultation.