AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine Human Rights Commission last week found that Rainbow FCU discriminated against a disabled job applicant when it refused to consider her for a teller job last year because of her physical condition.
Records show an executive vice president for Rainbow ended his interview with Denise Cyr, who walked with crutches, after Cyr asked whether she could sit rather than stand as a teller.
When Cyr showed up for her interview using two crutches, the credit union executive asked Cyr whether she suffered from polio, according to the record. The interviewer asked Cyr whether she could stand for long periods of time. Cyr said she couldn't, but her crutches wouldn't prevent her from doing the required work, according to the report.
Philippe Moreau, president of the $130-million credit union, would only say they have no plans to appeal the ruling. "We can't make a comment. It's in the hands of our attorney, and he told us not to make a comment," said Moreau.
Cyr, a long-time member of the credit union, was encouraged by a friend to apply for an open teller position, and she was granted an interview.
Cyr suffers from osteoarthritis, which she developed after a car accident when she was 8 years old. She had a recent knee replacement and needs another one, and the day before her interview, she had fallen and was sore.
Despite her condition, Cyr was working a 40-hour-a-week job, was caring for her family and attending college at the time of the interview.
When Cyr arrived at the interview, according to the records, the executive vice president asked her if she had arm braces because of polio. When Cyr asked about the possibility of sitting as a teller, the interviewer replied: "Unfortunately, this interview is over." The woman thanked her for coming and said she was "sorry that it couldn't work out," according to the record.
In finding "reasonable grounds" to cite the Lewiston credit union, the panel found that Rainbow had "unlawfully discriminated against Ms. Cyr when it failed to hire her, made illegal inquiries regarding disabilities and refused to consider reasonable accommodations."
"The Maine Human rights Commission affirmed...that Rainbow conducted illegal medical inquiries, failed to complete the interview process and failed to hire Mrs. Cyr all due to its inaccurate perception that she was too disabled to do the job," said Kristin Aiello, a lawyer for the Disability Rights Center, which represented Cyr in the case, in a prepared statement, adding, "In fact she was well qualified to do the job and Rainbow lost a top applicant as a result of ignorance and prejudice."
Under the commission's procedures, representatives of the two sides must now meet to negotiate a reconciliation, according to a spokesman for the state panel.
Commission findings are not law, but may become grounds for lawsuits.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
