State rights panel to rule on complaint

AUGUSTA – A Thomaston man has filed a charge of discrimination with the Maine Human Rights Commission against O’Hara Corp. of Rockland.

The commission meets today to decide whether the complaint is valid.

Complainant Stephen Darney, 38, alleged Oct. 2, 2006, to the Maine Human Rights Commission that O’Hara, also known as Journey’s End Marina, discriminated against him April 6, 2006, on the basis of his disability by subjecting him to a medical examination that the company did not require of all new employees.

The investigator has recommended in the investigation report that there are reasonable grounds to believe that O’Hara discriminated against Darney because of his disability.

Darney reportedly has a disability resulting from an old job-related shoulder injury.

O’Hara, which employs 140 people, said that Darney was not forthcoming with information about past work experience and that a subcontractor advised the company not to hire Darney. The company operates a full-service marina that stores and maintains boats, undertakes repairs, and does painting and restorations.

The investigator said Darney met the yard foreman at a Christmas party in 2005 and was told to come in to talk if he were ever interested in leaving his current job. Darney told the investigator he had been working at a different marina in Rockland when he was solicited to apply for employment at Journey’s End.

The company alleged that Darney’s job offer was contingent on a physical exam.

He said a number of months later he applied and was initially interviewed by the general manager.

“They agreed to hire me and to start me at $15 per hour with a raise in 30 days,” Darney said to the investigator. “I was to start the following Monday, April 10.”

Darney said he had to go to a third party medical screening company on April 5, where he was given a complete physical exam, which required a number of exercises, including carrying a 50-pound milk crate about 50 feet down a hall.

Darney said the screening company retrieved his old medical records without his consent instead of asking for a report from his physician, who would have given him a clean bill of health. The screening company’s evaluation contributed to Darney’s not getting the job, he said. The old medical records caused O’Hara to rescind the job offer,according to Darney.

The general yard manager was advised by a subcontractor not to hire Darney, pointing out that the work he had performed for his previous employer, York’s Marine, was unlike the work Darney would perform at O’Hara’s, according to the investigator.

The commission stated that for a claimant to establish a claim of disability discrimination under the Maine Human Rights Act, the person must show that he has a physical or mental disability, that he is otherwise qualified to perform the job, and that he has been adversely treated by the respondent based on the disability.

The investigator found that the screening company had come to a preliminary conclusion only, and that the evaluation was more to see whether Darney could use a respirator than whether he could do the job.

George Chappell may be reached at gchappell@bangordailynews.net or 236-4598.