AUGUSTA, Maine — A federal judge has ruled that an age and disability discrimination lawsuit brought by a longtime employee of an Augusta hospital can go forward.
John Wyman, 61, of West Gardiner sued MaineGeneral Medical Center in 2010 saying he was denied a job in the hospital’s reorganized information technology division following treatment for cancer, while a man in his early 20s was hired in his place.
Wyman had worked at the hospital for 20 years.
The Kennebec Journal reports a judge ruled that Wyman had raised legitimate concerns over whether he had comparable or better skills than the person who replaced him.
Wyman is seeking back reimbursement for lost pay, health insurance and disability insurance, among other damages.
A hospital spokeswoman refused comment.
The trial is set for August.
If Maine Med was smart they’ed settle right now ’cause once this gets out in open court, and anyone else that got screwed like this see’s it, well, they’re gonna need a fleet of lawyer’s to get out from under this type of crap. Firing a guy who is recovering from cancer treatment, yet is still capable and doing the job, and replacing him with a 20 year old is something that a lot of Maine jury’s are gonna take a dim view of, if not seen as an outright reason to send a clear message that to fire anyone simply because they are recovering from a health issue, on top of their age, is gonna cost them BIG TIME !
Maine Judge’s may not like to let big punitive award’s stand on appeal but you can bet that Maine Med’s insurance company is not gonna like the PR that this type of case bring’s, not to mention their inevitable JCAHCO Reviewing Committee. And in case anyone hasn’t seen it recently, the Maine Med’s GC might want to go look at the recent State Planning Office’s statistics on the overall age of Maine’s population. Age discrimination in this State is one case that is a dead loser, right outta’ the gate, in this case. Guess where the jury’s gonna come out of ? Gee, can we see this one coming or does Maine Med need a Seeing Eye Dog ? Either way this train’s coming thru !
It says in the article that it was Maine General in Augusta, Not Maine Med.
I stand corrected Sir but the inevitable is gonna follow no matter where this is based, especially here in Maine. Jury selection and demographic’s are a fact of life here in Maine as Maine General is about to find out !
No surprise here. I was being treated for breast cancer at MaineGeneral, while an employee of the system, lost my job and had my earned time payout held back for 3 months. I still have the bill they should have submitted to insurance sitting on my credit record 4 years later. This is typical behavior for Maine General.