AUGUSTA – An Iranian-born man mistaken for a Hispanic man wanted by the FBI was discriminated against on the basis of national origin, the Maine Human Rights Commission ruled Monday.

Commission members wrestled with the case and expressed concern about discouraging citizens from contacting police to investigate possible sightings of suspects based on wanted posters or composite drawings.

But the panel finally voted 3-1 to find reasonable grounds that Hami Yazdanpanah of Windham faced discrimination from the Greater Portland Transit District, also known as the Metro.

The incident that prompted the complaint happened on May 10 in Portland.

According to the investigator’s report, Yazdanpanah boarded a bus after getting out of work at the Maine Mall, then transferred to another bus. After boarding the second bus near the Metro terminal, he sat down with his knees propped up, looking out the window.

The bus driver had recently seen an FBI wanted poster forwarded to the Metro by the state Department of Transportation, which was hung in the drivers’ break room. The poster showed a photograph of Daniel Andreas San Diego, who was wanted on suspicion of using explosives to destroy buildings.

According to the poster, San Diego “has a girlfriend who is from Penobscot, so he might be in the area.”

The driver noticed a similarity between the photo of San Diego and Yazdanpanah. Yazdanpanah further aroused the driver’s suspicions by sitting in a huddled manner and by wearing sunglasses, even though it was a rainy day.

The driver wasn’t sure how to proceed, so he summoned a dispatcher, who boarded the bus and looked at Yazdanpanah, but she was unable to determine if there was a similarity. The dispatcher decided to summon police.

The bus was held, and two officers arrived and asked Yazdanpanah for identification. He did not have his wallet and was then escorted to a bench outside. He gave his name, date of birth and Social Security number to police, who then checked via radio and determined that Yazdanpanah was not San Diego.

Yazdanpanah was allowed to reboard and the bus left.

But according to investigator Michele Dion, the driver and dispatcher discriminated against Yazdanpanah because he did not resemble the wanted man.

Yazdanpanah’s reaction to the incident was recorded in Dion’s report:

“I … was made to sit alone on a bench on the sidewalk, in front of everyone, while one of the officers moved away to use his walkie-talkie. … I was nervous and got up and was pacing. The other officer asked me to sit down and take my hands out of my pockets.

“I found the whole incident degrading, because it took place in front of everyone. I believe I was singled out because I look Middle Eastern. I have a residence card here in the United States [having emigrated in 1997]. I have just graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a B.A. in political science.”

He explained the sunglasses were new, and “I wanted them on to look cool.”

Lawyer Melissa Hewey, representing the Metro, told the panel that if it found reasonable grounds, “that really guts the reason for wanted posters.”

Most reports by citizens of sightings of wanted suspects are not accurate, but when they are, Hewey argued, “that’s really important to society.”

Lawyer Robert Hark, representing Yazdanpanah, said the matter hinged on the poster.

“If he didn’t look like the poster, then he didn’t look like the poster,” he said and argued that with the number of minorities living in the Portland area, the driver should have been able to distinguish between a Hispanic and an Iranian native.

Hewey agreed that minorities were well represented in Portland and argued that if the driver was inclined to discriminate, he would have called police every time someone with dark hair and skin boarded the bus.

Dion confirmed that Metro employees were polite to Yazdanpanah, but the incident meant “he received their services in a hostile manner.”

Commission Chairman Paul Vestal, who sports a ponytail and whose bared arms are covered with tattoos, said he frequently had been detained by police because of his appearance. On crossing into Canada, he is often held for hours while his motorcycle is thoroughly searched.

“I get angry. I get real angry,” he said, “but they’re just doing their job in a world that’s constantly changing.”

Commission member Kristen Aiello expressed ambivalence about the case and sought guidance from the commission’s counsel, John Gause, who said the case hinged on how closely Yazdanpanah resembled the wanted poster. He deferred to Dion’s judgment that the similarity was slight.

Aiello supported the reasonable grounds finding, saying it meant there is “an even chance” that discrimination took place. Vestal voted against the motion.