AUGUSTA – The Maine Human Rights Commission found Monday there were reasonable grounds for a former Maine State Prison guard to claim she was discriminated against because she was a woman.

The commission, meeting at the Augusta Civic Center, also concluded that a College of the Atlantic student had been sexually harassed by a professor.

Candace Faller of Rockland filed a complaint with the commission after being denied a transfer from the Maine State Prison, where she worked as a guard. She told commissioners she sought the transfer only after facing sexual harassment and discrimination based on her gender.

Faller, representing herself, said she was hired in March 2001. She was given a uniform that was too big for her, she said, with its shirt pockets coming to her waist, making it difficult to do her job, and making her feel humiliated, she said.

Faller said she was reprimanded for leaving her post to get an ice pack for a prisoner, but that her supervisor had failed to acknowledge that another officer gave her permission. She said she also was shouted at by a superior officer for standing near a wall at meal time, when another officer had directed her to stand there.

Prison officials asked all the officers on duty at the time of the ice-pack incident to write reports on what happened, Faller said, but no one asked her for her version of the events, she told commissioners.

In a meeting with a supervisor, Faller said, she was told that if she were friendly to prisoners, they would assume she would want to have sex with them. The officer also told her she would be unable to say no to requests from prisoners to smuggle in contraband.

The officer also used a profane term for her when making his point, she said.

Faller said her interaction with prisoners included smiling and asking them how they were and where they were from, but she did not agree that such actions were wrong. She also said she complained that other guards would read Playboy magazine in her presence.

The prison was represented at the hearing by the Attorney General’s Office. An assistant attorney general said she disagreed with the Human Rights Commission investigator, who found for Faller. She said conditions are unique in the 800-prisoner facility and suggested that Faller, as a probationary employee on the job for just a few months, had not adjusted.

The commission voted unanimously that Faller had reasonable grounds to pursue claims against the state on sexual harassment and on gender discrimination.

The commission also found for College of the Atlantic student Erin Cayehal, who claimed to have been sexually harassed by a professor at the Bar Harbor college during a college canoe trip.

Cayehal filed a complaint with the college shortly after a May 2001 canoe trip with the professor, her attorney Karen Wolf told the commission. The college’s investigation concluded that the professor’s conduct was inappropriate and the atmosphere was “sexually charged” but did not sanction the professor, Wolf said.

Cayehal also claimed that the professor retaliated against her for filing the complaint by giving her poor grades and reviews.

Attorney Kevin Cuddy, representing the college, said the grades and reviews were supported by others evaluating Cayehal’s work and did not represent retaliation.

The commission voted 4-0 to support the state investigator’s conclusion that there are probable grounds that Cayehal was sexually harassed and retaliated against.

The commission also found there were probable grounds that Desiree Maxfield of Palmyra was discriminated against on the basis of having a child when she sought housing with Roderick Apartments, a business owned by Grace Roderick of Clinton. Maxfield was not at the hearing.

By affirming reasonable grounds on the part of the complainants, the commission then offers mediation to resolve the dispute. If the dispute is not settled, the complainant can then go to Superior Court.

The commission found there were not reasonable grounds in complaints by:

. Bernard Nelson against the town of Rockport.

. Dina Blanchard of Skowhegan against MBNA Corp. of Belfast.

. Peter Vigue of Unity against the town of Unity.

. Steven Memmelaar of Brewer against Gray Insulation of Brewer.

. Anne Perkins of Orono against Care Development of Maine.