AUGUSTA — An Augusta business and a landlord in Troy discriminated against two people based on their gender, a human rights panel concluded on Monday.

The two separate cases were handled by the Maine Human Rights Commission. The findings of reasonable grounds to believe discrimination occurred follow the recommendations of commission investigators. There were no arguments presented Monday in those two cases.

The commission sided with Shasta Roy of Richmond who maintained she was illegally fired by Theodore’s Seamless Gutters of Augusta because of she is a woman, that she was subjected to a sexually hostile work environment and that she was a victim of retaliation, all in violation of the Maine Human Rights Act.

The commission also sided with Heather Walsh of Augusta in her claim that she was the victim of a hostile housing environment based on her sex when she rented property from Kathy and Vernon Bagley of Troy.

A commission vote to find reasonable grounds to believe that discrimination occurred is also accompanied by a recommendation to begin a conciliation process.

Also, while commission findings are not law, they may become grounds for lawsuits.

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According to a report by Victoria Ternig, who was the commission’s chief investigator, Roy had worked as a foreman at Theodore’s from May 2013 until June 2014, when she was fired, and 2008-2010 prior to that. Roy’s complaint said she began to get inappropriate text messages from the business owner and in March 2014 saw him watching pornography when she went to the office, which was also his home, to pick up work orders.

Roy’s complaint said she told him his behavior was objectionable and offended her, but it continued.

The investigator found that Roy was fired for complaining about ongoing sexual harassment by the owner.

Theodore’s Seamless Gutters did not respond to numerous letters and calls from the commission and its investigators, according to Ternig’s report.

In the Walsh case, commission investigator Angela Tizon wrote that Walsh “was subjected to sexual harassment and that the harassment rises to the level of having been severe and pervasive” when renting an apartment from the couple from Aug. 1, 2014 to Aug. 29, 2015.

Tizon’s report says Vernon Bagley grabbed Walsh several times, chased her around her home and asked Walsh for sexual favors when Walsh came to his house to speak to Kathy Bagley.

In responding, Kathy Bagley said her husband could not help his actions “since he suffered from a brain injury.” Kathy Bagley also said Walsh did not complain about it prior to May 15, 2015, so Kathy Bagley could not correct it.

The commission also found no reasonable grounds to believe that the Bagleys retaliated against Walsh by evicting her for reporting the sexual harassment.

According to the notice served May 29, 2015, on Walsh, she was being asked to leave due to “harassment, assault on disabled landlord with a baseball bat.” Walsh’s partner was issued a criminal summons charging him with a May 15, 2015, assault on Vernon Bagley, Tizon noted.


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