Denny’s manager cleared of discrimination

AUBURN – The Maine Human Rights Commission has cleared the manager of a Denny’s Restaurant of allegations that he discriminated against a nursing mother by making inappropriate comments about her breasts.

In a 3-2 vote, the panel on Monday found no reasonable grounds to believe that discrimination had occurred. The vote went against the recommendation of the commission’s investigator.

“I knew the truth would come out sooner or later,” Marcel Deschaines said from the restaurant in Auburn, where he has worked for 15 years.

Stephanie York of Oakland filed the complaint alleging that Deschaines made several comments while she was breast-feeding her baby at Denny’s on Nov. 21, 2003.

She claimed that he asked her if she was “drowning the boy” with her breast. Then, she said, he turned to another employee while walking away and said, “Every man needs a good boob every once in a while.”

Deschaines acknowledged that he made the comment about drowning her baby. But he defended it as a joke, and said he didn’t make any other remarks.

An investigator for the commission recommended a vote against Deschaines, concluding that his “crude and juvenile” comments interfered with York’s right under Maine law to breast-feed in public.

York did not attend the commission’s hearing in Augusta, so the panel heard only from the investigator and a Denny’s attorney.

A vote against Deschaines would have allowed York to sue Denny’s with backing from the commission. Although he is relieved that won’t happen, Deschaines said some damage has already been done.

“How do you get that credibility back?” he said. “I’ve served more than 3 million people, and all it takes is one person to make up some lies.”