AUGUSTA – Terry Mikesell did not want to go public with his homosexuality. But he decided it was the only way to fight the harassment that he claims to have endured for nearly two decades at Lepage Bakeries.
Mikesell, who lives in Auburn and has worked at the bakery since 1980, said Monday that he felt validated for speaking out. The Maine Human Rights Commission voted to back him.
“A person can only take so much,” Mikesell said, following the commission’s monthly meeting. “You get to the point where you have to say, ‘That is it. I’m going to do something.'”
Between the fall of 1998 and the spring of 2000, Mikesell, 54, filed three complaints with the rights commission, alleging age and sex discrimination.
He claims his co-workers and supervisors taunted and mocked him for years, making fun of his age, his sexual orientation and his perceived lack of masculinity, to the point that he felt sick to his stomach and dreaded going to work.
In his complaints, Mikesell accuses the company of failing to take reasonable steps to stop the harassment. He also alleges retaliation.
Accepting the recommendations of their lead investigator, the members of the commission voted in support of two of his complaints. Although they didn’t find reasonable grounds for retaliation, they found grounds for discrimination on the basis of age and sex.
The bakery, one of Lewiston-Auburn’s largest employers with 515 workers, has denied Mikesell’s accusations.
“The complaints were investigated. They were addressed. People were disciplined,” said Peter Bennett, the attorney for the company. “What we have here is a situation where the company tried to do the right thing but was presented with conflicting stories. In the end, it was all cleaned up.”
But the commission didn’t see it that way.
In his age discrimination complaint, Mikesell, who is balding and has gray hair, claims co-workers repeatedly called him old and lazy in addition to whistling a song about an old man in his presence. This complaint seemed to be more straightforward for the commissioners. It earned their unanimous support, prompting few questions.
The sex discrimination complaint proved to be more complicated, raising the argument of whether Mikesell’s allegations can be considered a violation of the Maine Human Rights Act.
“The bottom line, however we might personally feel about the situation, is that the law does not apply to this case,” said Bennett, referring to the fact that Maine voters rejected a law that protects employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
“Mr. Mikesell has tried to wind his way through this legal maze” by filing a complaint alleging gender discrimination, Bennett added.
Curtis Webber, the attorney for Mikesell, argued that his client has accused the company of failing to stop co-workers from taunting him for his perceived lack of masculinity, not his homosexuality.
“Gender discrimination based on sexual stereotypes is different than discrimination based on sexual orientation,” Webber said.
Mikesell alleges in his complaint that co-workers repeatedly taunted him by talking to him in high-pitched voices while making feminine gestures, such as sashaying, holding up limp wrists or standing with their hands on their hips as he walked by.
In recommending a vote of support on the sex discrimination complaint, Paul Pierce, the rights commission investigator who handled the case, described Mikesell’s work environment as wretchedly hostile. He said the harassment occurred, in part, because of his sexual orientation and, in part, because of his perceived lack of masculinity.
In the end, three of the commissioners – Paul Vestal Jr., James Varner and Warren Kessler – agreed. Commissioner Kim Millick was absent. And Commissioner Linda Abromson cast the only dissenting vote. “I need to tell you that I am struggling with this,” Abromson said. “I have a great deal of difficulty making the distinction.”
Mikesell said he hopes Lepage Bakeries will agree to a settlement. If that doesn’t happen, he intends to bring the case to court.
“I consider myself an advocate for people who are abused in any way for being different,” he said. “And I don’t give up.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
