Maine Human Rights Comm'n v. Saddleback, Inc.

Superior Court of Maine·Decided October 31, 2008·No. ANDcv-06-219·Unpublished

Opinion

STATE OF MAINE SUPERIOR COURT ANDROSCOGGIN, ss. CIVIL ACTION \ DOCKET NO. CV-06-219\

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v. JUDGMENT (AMENDED)

SADDLEBACK, INC, INTEGRITY ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION & SERVICE, INC AND SARGENT & SONS BUILDERS, INC,

Defendants BEFORE THE COURT

This matter is before the court following a jury trial on June 16, 17 and 18, 2008 for a judicial determination of a remaining claim against Saddleback, Inc., brought under the Maine Human Rights Act, 5 M.R.S.A. §§ 4553(2) and 4633(2). The Maine Human Rights Commission and Robert Duggan seek declaratory and injunctive relief, along with damages, because they allege that Robert Duggan was illegally fired in violation of the WhistIeblowers' Protection Act and the Maine Human Rights Act.

Plaintiffs' amended complaint alleged claims against Integrity, Saddleback and Sargent. Plaintiffs asserted that Duggan's employer, Integrity, discriminated against Duggan at the behest of Saddleback and Sargent in violation of the Maine Human Rights Act (MHRA) and the WhistIeblower's Protection Act (WPA) due to Duggan's complaint to the Maine State Electrician's Examining Board (Board) that Saddleback employees and others were performing unsafe electrical work without a license in violation of the Maine State Electrical Code (Code). Plaintiffs

alleged that Integrity violated the WPA (Count I) and the MHRA (Count II) by threatening him with termination, terminating his employment and subsequently seeking to transfer him to a different job site, all because of his report to the Board. Integrity was defaulted on Counts I and II and judgment will be entered against it on both Counts. With respect to Saddleback, the Commission and Duggan alleged that Saddleback compelled or coerced Integrity to engage in unlawful NIHRA employment discrimination and interfered with Duggan's exercise or enjoyment of the rights guaranteed or protected by the MHRA (Count III). This claim will be addressed below. Duggan also alleged in Counts IV and V that Saddleback (Count IV) and Sargent (Count V) tortiously interfered with Duggan's business relationship with Integrity by pressuring Integrity to fire him. Sargent defaulted on Count V. The jury found for Duggan on the claims of tortious interference with a business relationship and awarded him against each Saddleback and Sargent $ 42,000 in compensatory damages.

FACTS

In the summer of 2004, Duggan was employed by Integrity as a Journeyman Electrician and Foreman and was working at Saddleback Maine Ski Resort on the snowmaking project and worked for Sargent & Sons, the general contractor for Saddleback, on the base lodge work. Saddleback also contracted with Snow Machines Incorporated (SMI), an out-of-state company, to perform the snowmaking installation. To save money, Saddleback let SMI use Saddleback laborers when SMI needed additional workers, even though Maine law required a Maine licensed electrician and SMI workers were not licensed.

Duggan worked through Integrity for both Sargent and Saddleback.

Duggan was a skilled, competent electrician who performed his job well and was

regarded by his employer as being a hard, smart worker. Duggan observed Saddleback employees performing work on the site that was both unlicensed and unsafe. Duggan also observed Saddleback workers drinking beer on the job and reported it to his foreman Rick Morin. Duggan had two concerns: (1) electrical work with high voltage lines was being performed by persons with no electrical license and in violation of the Electrical Code; and (2) the work being done posed a serious risk of danger to the general public. Only Integrity had a license; Saddleback and SMI did not have a license. Duggan was not the only one with concerns about the illegal work. Many knew that illegal work was going on and were frustrated that the State had not come in to stop it. Duggan and others l reported this unlicensed and unsafe work but nothing was done.

On September 21, Duggan spoke about the illegal work to Brian Bunch, a Saddleback employee hired to oversee installation of snowmaking equipment and the lifts, whose response was, "We're a small mountain. We do what we want." Two days later, on September 23, Saddleback gave work to Tripp, another electrical contractor, and Bunch told Integrity they were happy with them, they did excellent work, but Bunch wouldn't elaborate beyond that.

Duggan spoke to Mike Carleton, the owner of Integrity, and Rick Morin, Integrity's general foreman, about the unlicensed and unsafe electrical work. On September 29, after he witnessed unlicensed workers backfilling boulders and debris on top of high voltage electrical lines in violation of the Electrical Code and observed disconnects done by unlicensed workers in the pump house, Duggan spoke with Morin and warned him he was going to call the State.

I Another employee of Integrity also reported the unlicensed and unsafe work but his employment was not terminated because the defendants did not know that he had also made a report to the State.

Duggan asked Morin to contact Carleton. Later that day, Duggan contacted the Maine State Electrician's Examining Board and reported what he reasonably believed to be unlawful and unsafe electrical activity on the part of Saddleback employees. Integrity did not fire Duggan that day for contacting the Board.

When Sargent asked Morin, who had called the State, Morin gave Sargent Duggan's name. Tom McAlister, General Manager of Saddleback, and Bunch were upset that Duggan had called the State and wondered "why would he bite the hand that feeds him." They were angry. Bunch was very upset and because the snowmaking project was already behind schedule and Bunch knew that the State had the ability to shut the whole project down.

After Duggan's report, Integrity's work was restricted to a single area at Saddleback. In addition, Sargent met with Morin and told him that Duggan was "gone" because he had made the report. He told Morin that this was "the kind of thing that was going to get Integrity fired from this job." Morin told Sargent that it would be illegal, but Sargent's response was that he did not care and Duggan was "gone." During a subsequent meeting with Morin and Carleton, Sargent again repeated that Duggan was "gone." Sargent initiated this conversation to relay to Carleton Saddleback's disappointment about why one of his employees would be calling the State electrical inspector. Bunch also met with Carleton and ordered Carleton to fire Duggan because of his call to the Board. Saddleback and Sargent had made clear to Integrity that they wanted Duggan gone. Carleton was very anxious about not losing the work at Saddleback. Integrity had a lot to lose if it lost the contract at the mountain? On

2Indeed, Integrity made a lot of money ("obscene amounts of overtime" as described by Carleton) during the months after Duggan was fired.

September 3D, Carleton told Duggan that Saddleback wanted him fired and he asked if he could give Duggan a clean layoff. He then asked Duggan if he would take a transfer as an alternative to a layoff. Duggan refused. Integrity then decided to make Duggan take a day off the job site.

The next week Duggan was allowed to return but was told to keep his head down and not aggravate anybody over the unlicensed work. The work atmosphere was noticeably more hostile when Duggan returned to work. On October 7, there was an incident at Sarge's (a bar) when two SMI employees were staring at Duggan. Duggan approached them and raised the issue of unlicensed and unsafe work. Sargent complained to Integrity that the persons at Sarge's who were criticized for doing unlicensed work might harm Duggan. Saddleback and Sargent workers made other threats to Duggan.

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Maine Human Rights Comm'n v. Saddleback, Inc., (Me. Super. Ct. 2008).

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