As ENDA Lingers in Congress, a MDV in Maine

Just recently I was having what is a frequent conversation about what I do for a living, basically -- how interesting it is. And how although I am now 35 years into the practice I am still amazed at the new situations and the complexity of issues that I see, or as in this case read about.

And this one really does not even qualify very high on an unusual scale, except that it does reflect how often employers have to battle human nature.

The facts leading up to a $1,047,000 verdict from a Maine jury for Edward Russell are apparently these: Russell had filled in at least four times as General Manager for Express Jet at the Portland airport when the position was vacant. When he applied for the position on a permanent basis and did not get it, he sued arguing it was because he was gay.

So far, straight enough (no pun intended). The complicating factor is that in 2003-04 there had been a complaint from three female employees who had unsuccessfully applied for an open supervisory position. At the time, all of the Express Jet managers at the facility were gay men. The women complained that the gay general manager would only hire other gay men.

The theory of the case for the plaintiff -- the company did not want another gay man in the position. Toss in a few untoward comments and it all ends up to $1 million dollar plus verdict, which as the article notes will be reduced by some amount due to damage caps. See, Man wins gay discrimination suit, from the Portland Press Herald.

Discrimination is of course an individual act, and if his sexual orientation was the reason for his not being promoted, Russell clearly was entitled to recover.

But before one gets all righteous about how the wrong the company was, it is easy to imagine a circumstance, where an employer could, justifiably or not, be saying to themselves -- you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't.

I said my job was interesting, I never said it was easy.  Each piece of legislation, valid as it may be, just makes it more so.