BAR HARBOR, Maine — A federal magistrate judge has dismissed some claims brought against the town by a former police chief, but he is allowing other claims to move forward.
The magistrate judge, John Nivision, also has ruled in favor of granting the former police chief’s request for a trial.
Nate Young sued the town in March 2014 after he was fired by former Town Manager Dana Reed, who has since become town manager of the Mount Desert Island town of Tremont. The Town Council subsequently upheld the firing, which occurred nearly four months after Reed placed Young on leave.
Central to the dispute between Young and his former employer is his use of alcohol. Young admits to being an alcoholic and says the disease amounted to a disability that was not properly addressed by the town. In firing Young, town officials concluded that Young had operated a motor vehicle while intoxicated and then pressured officers in his department not to take action against him for the alleged act — both of which Young denies.
In his court complaint against the town, Young alleges, among other things, that:
— He was denied due process in his termination.
— The town did not accommodate his disability of alcoholism.
— He was regarded by the town as disabled because of his alcoholism and was fired for it.
— The town violated the federal Family Medical Leave Act by not allowing Young to return to work after getting treatment for his alcoholism.
— A jury trial is warranted because, contrary to state law, members of the Town Council considered evidence not included in the town’s official administrative record when they upheld Young’s firing.
Bar Harbor sought to have Young’s claims dismissed and, in his April 23 recommended decision, Nivison partially granted the town’s request. Young failed to demonstrate that his federal due process rights were violated or that the town failed to accommodate a reasonable request from Young to address his alcoholism, the judge wrote.
However, Nivison also ruled to allow Young to move forward with his claim that the town violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act in firing him over his alcoholism and with his claim that the town violated the Family Medical Leave Act.
The judge wrote that a jury trial is warranted because there is adequate evidence that the Town Council might have considered factors outside the administrative record in upholding Young’s firing. Young will be able to explore possible state due process violations in such a trial, Nivison added.
“We’re very happy,” Young’s attorney, Gregg Frame of Portland, said of Nivison’s decision.
The judge’s support of Young’s jury trial request, Frame said, will give his client a long-awaited day in court in front of an impartial jury.
Young also wrote in an email Monday evening that he is pleased with Nivison’s recommended decision.
“The [town’s] motion to dismiss and the opposition to the trial on the facts was an attempt by the town to sweep under the rug what were very clearly inappropriate actions by the Town Council, [Reed] and the investigator,” Young said. “The court’s ruling allows us to fully and finally dig deeper into how the decision to terminate my employment was reached, and I welcome that opportunity.”
A voicemail message left Monday for the town’s attorney, Mark Franco of Portland, was not returned.
Young was on administrative leave for nearly four months before his being fired in January 2014. He was placed on leave by Reed after an incident in the local village of Town Hill.
Bar Harbor police received a report on Sept. 25, 2013, that a man, who turned out to be Young, was slumped over the steering wheel of a pickup truck parked outside a local business. Officers who responded to the complaint said they smelled alcohol emanating from Young’s truck but did not witness anything illegal during their brief interaction with Young. The officers left the scene without taking any action.
An investigator later hired by the town concluded that Young had broken the law by driving drunk and had pressured officers in his department who came to investigate his well-being not to pursue the matter.
After being place on leave, Young acknowledged having a drinking problem and said he received treatment and counseling. He has said he was contemplating his personal problems that day in September 2013 when officers checked on him but denies he was drunk and said he did not intimidate them into inaction.
After filing suit in federal court, Young filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission last year, alleging that the town violated the Maine Human Rights Act by failing to accommodate his disability of alcoholism. The commission did not review Young’s case but did issue him a right-to-sue letter after it declined to take up the matter within 180 days of receiving his complaint.
