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State allows BIW workers to sue in discrimination complaints

Sun Journal (Lewiston, ME) - 11/25/2015

Nov. 25--LEWISTON -- A state agency Monday gave the green light to sue to two area men who claimed that Bath Iron Works discriminated against them because of their physical disabilities, according to documents.

Rodney Kates of Lewiston and Richard Roberts of Lisbon Falls filed complaints against the Bath-based corporation that builds military ships. They argued they were denied the opportunity to earn overtime pay in their long-held jobs.

The two men had worked as so-called P10 grinders at the shipyard. In that job, they had prepared surfaces for paint and coatings and cleaned surfaces to remove coatings, according to complaints filed on Aug. 22 with the Maine Human Rights Commission. The two men are represented by attorney Jeffrey Young.

A Maine Human Rights Commission investigator found there were reasonable grounds to support the two men's claims.

The commission voted Monday 3-1 to issue a right-to-sue letter to the two men.

In November 2012, BIW announced that it intended to lay off workers with the P10 classification who were unable to use a grinder. That decision affected Kates and Roberts, who had worked in that classification, but hadn't been required to perform those duties, according to the complaints.

Although they received the same hourly wage after their transfers, the two men no longer were given the opportunity to work overtime and collect overtime pay because they lacked seniority in those new jobs.

Kates has a lumbar degenerative disc, which limits his ability to kneel, crawl and perform overhead work, according to his complaint. He also suffered two heart attacks and was equipped with a stent. He has permanent restrictions that include no lifting or carrying more than 50 pounds and he can only use a "positive respirator" that covers only half of the face.

Roberts has de Quervain's tenosynovitis, a painful condition affecting the tendons on the thumb side of the wrist. The condition requires work limitations, including no use of vibrating tools as a permanent restriction, according to his complaint.

In October 2013, the two men were returned to the P10 classification, but they had each lost a year's potential wages in overtime due to their earlier transfer, they wrote in their complaints.

BIW uses a system called "Return to work/Stay at work," which is aimed at enabling injured and limited-duty workers to keep working.

MHRC Investigator Victoria Ternig wrote in her reports that there were reasonable grounds to believe that BIW had discriminated against Roberts and Kates in the terms of their condition of employment on the basis of disability. In Kates' case, BIW also discriminated against him by denying him a reasonable accommodation for his disability.

The two had claimed discrimination on the basis of age, but Ternig found no reasonable grounds for those claims.

The commission last month heard several similar claims filed by BIW workers alleging age and/or disability discrimination. It was scheduled to take up these cases, which had been tabled, on Monday.

Bath Iron Works is owned by General Dynamics.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com

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