[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Bar Harbor as
indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-21-1998]
A.
The Council finds that:
(1)
The people who make up the Town of Bar Harbor include
those who are gay and lesbian (they are family members, neighbors, friends,
employees, taxpayers, landlords and tenants, lenders and borrowers);
(2)
Some homosexuals face discrimination in employment, housing,
access to public accommodations, education and in the extension of financial
credit;
(3)
Federal, state and Town laws offer no clear prohibition
of discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, access
to public accommodations, education and in the extension of financial credit;
and
(4)
Many homosexuals are reluctant to report acts of harassment
or violence because of a lack of legal protection against discrimination in
employment, housing, access to public accommodations, education and in the
extension of financial credit.
B.
Therefore, in order to protect the public health, safety
and welfare, it is declared to be the policy of this Town to prevent discrimination
in employment, housing, access to public accommodations, education or in the
extension of credit on account of sexual orientation.
As used in this article, unless the context otherwise indicates, the
following words shall have the following meanings:
Any communication, oral or written, by a person to a creditor requesting
an extension of credit to that person or any other person, and includes any
procedure involving the renewal or alteration of credit privileges or the
changing of the name of the person to whom credit is extended.
The right granted by a creditor to a person to defer payment of debt
or to incur debt and defer its payment or to purchase property or services
and defer payment therefor.
Any person who regularly extends or arranges the extension of credit
for which the payment of a finance charge or interest is required, whether
in connection with loans, sale of property or services or otherwise.
Any transaction with respect to which credit is granted or arranged
by the seller. The term includes any contract in the form of a bailment or
lease if the bailee or lessee contracts to pay as compensation for use a sum
substantially equivalent to or in excess of the aggregate value of the property
and services involved and it is agreed that the bailee or lessee will become
the owner of the property upon full compliance with his obligations under
the contract.
Any invitation to apply for credit, extension of credit or credit
sale.
Includes, without limitation, segregate or separate.
An individual who is employed by an employer, but not including any
individual employed by his/her parents, spouse or child.
Any person in this Town employing any number of employees, whatever
the place of employment of such employees, and any person outside this Town
employing any number of employees whose usual place of employment is in this
Town; any person acting in the interest of any employer, directly or indirectly;
and labor organizations, whether or not organized on a religious, fraternal
or sectarian basis, with respect to their employment of employees, but does
not include a religious or fraternal corporation or association not organized
for private profit and in fact not conducted for private profit, with respect
to employment of its members of the same religion, sect or fraternity.
Any person undertaking with or without compensation to procure opportunities
to work or to procure, recruit, refer or place employees. It includes, without
limitation, placement services, training schools and centers, and labor organizations,
to the extent that they act as employee referral sources, and it includes
any agent of such person.
Any acts incident to the evaluation of an application for credit
and the granting of credit.
Any building or structure or portion thereof, or any parcel of land,
developed or undeveloped, which is occupied, or is intended to be occupied
or to be developed for occupancy, for residential purposes excepting:
The rental of a one-family unit of a two-family dwelling, one unit of
which is occupied by the owner;
The rental of not more than four rooms of a one-family dwelling which
is occupied by the owner; and
The rental of any dwelling owned, controlled or operated for other than
a commercial purpose by a religious corporation to its membership unless such
membership is restricted on account of sexual orientation.
Any communication, oral or written, by a creditor which encourages
or prompts an application for credit.
One or more individuals, partnerships, associations, organizations,
corporations, municipal corporations, legal representatives, trustees in bankruptcy,
receivers and other legal representatives, including the Town and all agencies
thereof.
Any establishment which in fact caters to, or offers its goods, facilities
or services to, or solicits or accepts patronage from, the general public,
including but not limited to inns, taverns, roadhouses, hotels, whether conducted
for the entertainment or accommodation of transient guests or of those seeking
health, recreation or rest, restaurants, eating houses or any place where
food is sold for consumption on the premises, buffets, saloons, barrooms or
any store, park or enclosure where spirituous or malt liquors are sold, ice
cream parlors, confectioneries, soda fountains and all stores where beverages
of any kind are retained for consumption on the premises, retail stores and
establishments, dispensaries, clinics, hospitals, rest rooms, bathhouses,
barbershops, beauty parlors, theaters, motion-picture houses, music halls,
airdromes, roof gardens, race courses, skating rinks, amusement and recreation
parks, fairs, bowling alleys, golf courses, gymnasiums, shooting galleries,
billiard and pool parlors, swimming pools, seashore accommodations and boardwalks,
public libraries, garages and gasoline stations, all public conveyances operated
on land, water or in the air as well as the stations and terminals thereof,
public halls and public elevators of buildings occupied by two or more tenants
or by the owner and one or more tenants, and educational institutions.
See 32 M.R.S.A. § 4001(2) and (3), as amended,[1] but including all persons meeting those definitions, whether or
not they are licensed or required to be licensed.
Having a preference or orientation for, being identified as having
a preference or orientation for, or having a history of a preference for,
heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality.
[1]
Editor's Note: Section 4001 of Title 32 was repealed by Chapter 395
of the Acts of 1987.
A.
It shall be unlawful employment discrimination, in violation
of this article, except where based on a bona fide occupational qualification:
(1)
For any employer to fail or refuse to hire or otherwise
discriminate against any applicant for employment because of sexual orientation
or because of such reason to discharge an employee or discriminate with respect
to hire, tenure, promotion, transfer, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges
of employment, or any other matter directly or indirectly related to employment,
or in recruiting of individuals for employment or in hiring them to utilize
any employment agency which such employer knows, or has reasonable cause to
know, discriminates against individuals because of their sexual orientation.
(2)
For any employment agency to fail or refuse to classify
properly or refer for employment or otherwise discriminate against any individual
because of sexual orientation, or to comply with an employer's request for
the referral of job applicants, if such request indicates whether directly
or indirectly that such employer will not afford full and equal employment
opportunities to individuals regardless of their sexual orientation.
(3)
For any labor organization to exclude from apprenticeship
or membership, or to deny full and equal membership rights to, any applicant
for membership because of sexual orientation or because of such reason to
deny a member full and equal membership rights, expel from membership, penalize
or otherwise discriminate in any manner with respect to hire, tenure, promotion,
transfer, compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment, representation,
grievances or any other matter directly or indirectly related to membership
or employment, whether or not authorized or required by the constitution or
bylaws of such labor organizations or by a collective labor agreement or other
contract, or to fail or refuse to classify properly or refer for employment
or otherwise discriminate against any member because of such sexual orientation,
or to cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an individual
in violation of this section.
(4)
For any employer or employment agency or labor organization,
prior to employment or admission to membership of any individual, to:
(a)
Elicit or attempt to elicit any information directly
or indirectly pertaining to sexual orientation except where some privileged
information is necessary for an employment agency or labor organization to
make a suitable job referral;
(b)
Make or keep a record of sexual orientation;
(c)
Use any form of application for employment or personnel
or membership blank containing questions or entries directly or indirectly
pertaining to sexual orientation;
(d)
Print or publish or cause to be printed or published
any notice or advertisement relating to employment or membership indicating
any preference, limitation, specification or discrimination based upon sexual
orientation; or
(e)
Establish, announce or follow a policy of denying or
limiting, through a quota system or otherwise, employment or membership opportunities
of any group because of sexual orientation.
(5)
For an employer or employment agency or labor organization
to discriminate in any manner against any individual because he or she has
opposed any practice which would be a violation of this article or because
he or she has made a charge, testified or assisted in any manner in any investigation,
proceeding or hearing under this article.
B.
Not employment discrimination. It shall not be unlawful
employment discrimination:
(1)
After employment or admission to membership, to make
a record of such features of an individual as are needed in good faith for
the purpose of identifying them, provided such record is intended and used
in good faith solely for such identification and not for the purpose of discrimination
in violation of this article.
(2)
To record any data required by law, or by the rules and
regulations of any state or federal agency, provided such records are kept
in good faith for the purpose of complying with law and are not used for the
purpose of discrimination in violation of this article.
A.
It shall be unlawful housing discrimination, in violation
of this article:
(1)
For any owner, lessee, sublessee, managing agent or other
person having the right to sell, rent, lease or manage a housing accommodation,
or any agent of these, to make or cause to be made any written or oral inquiry
concerning the sexual orientation of any prospective purchaser, occupant or
tenant of such housing accommodation; or to refuse to show or refuse to sell,
rent, lease, let or otherwise deny to or withhold from any individual such
housing accommodation because of sexual orientation of such individual; or
to issue any advertisement relating to the sale, rental or lease of such housing
accommodation which indicates any preference, limitation, specification or
discrimination based upon sexual orientation; or to discriminate against any
individual because of sexual orientation in the price, terms, conditions or
privileges of the sale, rental or lease of any such housing accommodations
or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith; or
to evict or attempt to evict any tenant of any housing accommodation because
of sexual orientation;
(2)
For any real estate broker or real estate sales person,
or agent of one of them, to fail or refuse to show any applicant for a housing
accommodation any such accommodation listed for sale, lease or rental because
of sexual orientation of such applicant or of any intended occupant of such
accommodation; or to misrepresent for the purpose of discriminating on account
of sexual orientation of such applicant or intended occupant the availability
or asking price of a housing accommodation listed for sale, lease or rental;
or for such a reason to fail to communicate to the person having the right
to sell or lease such housing accommodation any offer for the same made by
any applicant thereof; or in any other manner to discriminate against any
applicant for housing because of sexual orientation of such applicant or of
any intended occupant of the housing accommodation; or to make or cause to
be made any written or oral inquiry or record concerning the sexual orientation
of any such applicant or intended occupant; or to accept for listing any housing
accommodation when the person having the right to sell or lease the same has
directly or indirectly indicated an intention of discriminating among prospective
tenants or purchasers on the ground of their sexual orientation, or when he
knows or has reason to know that the person having the right to sell or lease
such housing accommodation has made a practice of such discrimination since
the effective date of this article; or
(3)
For any person to whom application is made for a loan
or other form of financial assistance for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation,
repair or maintenance of any housing accommodation, whether secured or unsecured,
or agent of such person, to make or cause to be made any oral or written inquiry
concerning the sexual orientation of any individual seeking such financial
assistance, or of existing or prospective occupants or tenants of such housing
accommodations, or to discriminate in the granting of such financial assistance,
or in the terms, conditions or privileges relating to the obtaining or use
of any such financial assistance, against any applicant because of the sexual
orientation of such applicant or of the existing or prospective occupants
or tenants.
B.
Not housing discrimination. Nothing in this article shall
be construed in any manner to prohibit or limit the exercise of the privilege
of every person and the agent of any person having the right to sell, rent,
lease or manage a housing accommodation to set up and enforce specifications
in the selling, renting, leasing or letting thereof or in the furnishings
of facilities or services in connection therewith which are not based on the
sexual orientation of any prospective or actual purchaser, lessee, tenant
or occupant thereof. Nothing in this article contained shall be construed
in any manner to prohibit or limit the exercise of the privilege of every
person and the agent of any person making loans for or offering financial
assistance in the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair or maintenance
of housing accommodations to set standards and preferences, terms, conditions,
limitations or specifications for the granting of such loans or financial
assistance which are not based on the sexual orientation of any existing or
prospective owner, lessee, tenant or occupant of such housing accommodation.
It shall be unlawful public accommodations discrimination, in violation
of this article:
A.
For any person, being the owner, lessee, proprietor,
manager, superintendent, agent or employee of any place of public accommodation
to directly or indirectly refuse, withhold from or deny to any person, on
account of sexual orientation, any of the accommodations, advantages, facilities
or privileges of such place of public accommodation or for such reason in
any manner to discriminate against any person in the price, terms or conditions
upon which access to such accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges
may depend; or
B.
For any person to directly or indirectly publish, circulate,
issue, display, post or mail any written, printed, painted or broadcast communication,
notice or advertisement to the effect that any of the accommodations, advantages,
facilities and privileges of any place of public accommodation shall be refused,
withheld from or denied to any person on account of sexual orientation, or
that the patronage or custom thereat of any person belonging to or purporting
to be of any particular sexual orientation is unwelcome, objectionable or
not acceptable, desired or solicited, or that the clientele thereof is restricted
to members of particular sexual orientation. The production of any such written,
printed, painted or broadcast communication, notice or advertisement purporting
to relate to any such place shall be presumptive evidence in any action that
the same was authorized by its owner, manager or proprietor.
It shall be unlawful credit discrimination for any creditor to refuse
the extension of credit to any person solely on the basis of sexual orientation
in any credit transaction. It shall not be unlawful credit discrimination
to comply with the terms and conditions of any bona fide group credit life,
accident and health insurance plan or for a financial institution extending
credit to a married person to require both the husband and the wife to sign
a note and a mortgage and to deny credit to persons under the age of 18 or
to consider a person's age in determining the terms upon which credit will
be extended.
It shall be unlawful educational discrimination, on the basis of sexual
orientation, to:
A.
Exclude a person from participation in, deny a person
the benefits of, or subject a person to discrimination in any academic extracurricular,
research, occupational training or other program or activity:
B.
Deny a person equal opportunity in athletic programs;
C.
Apply any rule concerning the actual or potential family
or marital status of a person;
D.
Deny admission to the institution or program or fail
to provide equal access to and information about an institution or program
through recruitment; or
E.
Deny financial assistance availability or opportunity.
A.
A person may not discriminate against any individual
because that individual has opposed any act or practice that is unlawful under
this article or because that individual made a charge, testified, assisted
or participated in any manner in an investigation or proceeding under this
article.
B.
It is unlawful for a person to coerce, intimidate, threaten
or interfere with any individual in the exercise or enjoyment of the rights
granted or protected by this article or because that individual has exercised
or enjoyed, or has aided or encouraged another individual in the exercise
or enjoyment of, those rights.
C.
The remedies and procedures available under the enforcement
provisions of this article are available to persons for violations of the
preceding two subsections.
A.
A violation of this article shall be a civil infraction
and shall be enforceable in the Maine Superior Court in a civil action. Not
later than two years after the act of unlawful discrimination complained of,
a person who has been subject to unlawful discrimination may file a civil
action in the Superior Court against the person or persons who committed the
unlawful discrimination.
B.
In any civil action under this article, the burden shall
be on the person seeking relief to prove, by a fair preponderance of the evidence,
that the alleged unlawful discrimination occurred.
C.
In any action filed under this article by any person:
(1)
Where any person who has been the subject of alleged
unlawful housing discrimination has not acquired substitute housing, temporary
injunctions against the sale or rental to others of the housing accommodations
as to which the violation allegedly occurred, or against the sale or rental
of a single housing accommodation substantially identical thereto and controlled
by the alleged violator, shall be liberally granted in the interests of furthering
the purposes of this article, when it appears probable that the plaintiff
will succeed upon final disposition of the case.
(2)
If the court finds that unlawful discrimination occurred,
its judgment shall specify an appropriate remedy or remedies therefor. Such
remedies may include, but are not limited to, any and all remedies provided
for in the Maine Human Rights Act, 5 M.R.S.A. § 4613, as the same
may be amended from time to time.
(3)
In any civil action under this article, the court, in
its discretion, may allow the prevailing party reasonable attorneys' fees
and costs.
In addition to the other exceptions and exemptions provided in this
article, this article does not:
