AUGUSTA, Maine — A woman who argued she was fired from Denny’s restaurant because of her obsessive compulsive disorder was dismissed for giving a trucker a cup of free milk, the Maine Human Rights Commission found Monday.
The commission’s vote went against its own investigator’s recommendation.
In a a 2-0 vote Monday, the commission decided that Erica Kilde of Richmond was subjected to a hostile work environment at the Augusta Denny’s for her OCD but was not fired for her disorder. One commissioner abstained from the vote.
According to Kilde, her co-workers would call her Miss Perfect and mess with her workspace, which she said she needed to keep in a particular way.
“[One of her co-workers] repeatedly rearranged her supplies and demanded half of the work station for his own things. When she stated that his actions caused her to get new medication for her condition, he responded, ‘You just gave me a trophy to hang on my wall,’” the human rights commission’s investigator wrote in a report.
Kilde had reminded her manager of her OCD and asked that he make her co-workers stop teasing her about four times, the last time being May 13, 2010.
“She explained that the harassment would cause her to cry at work,” the commission’s investigator wrote. “She finally stated that she would file an official complaint with the company if [the] general manager did not address the situation. He responded with ‘a dirty look’ and stated, ‘No. No. No. Don’t even talk like that.’”
The next day, Trucker John, a regular, came in for his meal. He usually would leave a $20 bill after eating, without seeing the sales slip. The remaining money would be a tip, according to the commission investigator’s report.
Kilde, who had worked for Denny’s for 3 1/2 years, didn’t charge Trucker John for his usual cup of milk. A manager noticed and confronted her. She told her manager it was an oversight and she would pay for the beverage.
Instead Denny’s fired her two days later.
Kilde suspected the firing wasn’t over the milk but because she had OCD.
Because of the time frame — getting fired days after complaining that she was being picked on because of her mental disorder — and after looking at records from other Denny’s restaurants about when they fire people for theft of services, the Maine Human Rights Commission investigator reached the conclusion that Kilde was fired for complaining about Denny’s not accommodating her disorder.
The Maine Human Rights Commission disagreed in a 3-0 vote Monday.
OK, I’m confused. Did she win or not?
I’m with you…
Yes She won the right to sue. YEs the article is misleading in that the Commission voted 2-1 in her favor and at the end says a 3-0 vote that disagreed so BDN needs to edit this story as well.
Everyone has the right to sue after the commission rules in either direction or if it take the commission longer than six months to resolve their case. The article is misleading/confusing because its based entirely on the employee’s perspective of the case. The commission found she was treated badly by her coworkers (2-1) but not fired for her disability (3-0). When/if she does sue the most readily quantifiable measurement of damages would be lost wages if she were wrongfully terminated/fired over her disability. She can still allege that, but if you can’t convince the MHRC you were fired illegally, it would be difficult to convince anyone else. If she can’t convince a jury she was wrongfully terminated, maybe she can get something for her emotional pain and suffering, but that would be a tough sell considering she kept coming back to this job until they told her not to.
Not trying to be unsympathetic to this lady and if the employer/other employees really behaved this way they ought to be punished harshly, but if she can’t “carry the water” in front of a kangaroo court like this commission, she’s not going to be able to carry in front of a jury.
She had made 2 claims. They found in her favor for one (hostile work environment) and against her in the other ( that she had been fired because of his disability).
Nobody goes to work to deal with others crap. People just gotta mind their own business and do their job.
….
I guess I’ll be avoiding the Denny’s in Augusta from now on.
lepage cronies.
So who are the cronies? The Human Rights Commisioners? If so who are they, what is their term and who appointed them? You would know that before making a statement right? That info is available at the state website.
rewrite this article not sure who won. Is the headline wrong?
She lost, but the only source of info that the reporter had was the employee and her attorney. The facts as reported in the news story clearly are not the facts as found by the commission and it doesn’t appear that Denny’s provided their own version of what occurred, which is probably a smart move because they’ll be sued in a real court next.
She made 2 claims. The commission ruled in her favor for one claim and not the other.
there are jack wagons like this guy every where he would have got punched in the face if he said that to me some times jerks just need a good whoopin
I have eaten at Denny’s exactly TWICE…the first time i ate there i got buffalo chicken that was undercooked and the second time i got bacon for breakfast with hair on it. I will NEVER eat at Denny’s again, in bangor or elsewhere…I would suggest Dysart’s for breakfast.
Dysar’ts Rocks …
… a very long drive for some of us most days though.
We hit Dysart’s every time we come “home”! Denny’s is just nasty.
I myself look forward to a meal when ever I can get back into town. Always the best place to go after making a haul.
I recommend Dysarts to all the drivers I meet headed this way. A better parking lot would be nicer for the trucks but oh well. Cant get everything. At least the food is excellent.
A good thrashing can sometimes do more than any legal process ever could. It might not be nice or meet the Due Process standard’s but is solves the problem quicker, and for a lot longer, than most think. It also tends to leave a ‘lasting impression’ on everybody also. And sometime’s that maybe the most important solution of all.
Denny’s has a long history of discrimination. I recall reading about an indecent, years ago, where Denny’s refused to serve an on duty African American Secret Service Agent.
Was the vote 3-0 as stated in the last part of the article or 2-1 like the first part of the article? I’m confused….