WALDOBORO, Maine — A federal religious discrimination lawsuit brought against Moody’s Diner by a former waitress has been settled outside of court.
Allina Diaz of Wiscasset had accused diner owner Dan Beck of discrimination, harassment and threatening to fire because she was not adhering to his religious beliefs. The suit sought back pay and other losses associated with lost benefits, as well as punitive damages.
Diaz, who began working as a server at the diner in 2002, said Beck subjected her to “severe and pervasive” harassment after she began dating his son in October 2012.
Rebecca S. Webber, Diaz’s attorney, and Janet V. Britton, who represents Moody’s Diner and Beck, filed a motion on Monday in U.S. District Court in Portland to dismiss the case. Both attorneys declined Tuesday to disclose the terms of the settlement, or to discuss the case.
The Maine Human Rights Commission in November 2014 had found reasonable grounds Beck had discriminated and harassed Diaz, and that Beck had created a hostile work environment and retaliated against her after she filed a complaint with the commission.
In February, as the parties were working with the commission to settle the issue out of court, Gov. Paul LePage announced he would have his chief legal counsel also look into the case.
Later, in an effort to compel the Maine Human Rights Commission to reopen the case, LePage blocked a financial transfer request by the agency intended to pay for temporary staffing. The governor said an audio recording heard by the commission during its deliberations on the Moody’s Diner case had been edited and should be heard in its entirety.
The commission, however, refused to reopen the case. Diaz filed her federal lawsuit in May.
That same month, Diaz pleaded guilty to felony drug trafficking in Lincoln County Superior Court and was sentenced to four years in prison, with all but four months suspended, and two years of probation.
Prosecutors said Diaz and her boyfriend, Nathan E. Brewer, 27, also of Wiscasset, wired $27,000 to California — $7,731 of which came from Diaz — and Brewer accepted a package containing about 10 grams of black tar heroin.