An Act to Amend the Maine Human Rights Act to Provide
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1647
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CARNEY, MOONEN
Amends: 5 MRSA §4613

Legislative Document
No. 1647
S.P. 655
In Senate, April 15, 2025
An Act to Amend the Maine Human Rights Act to Provide 
Additional Remedies for Educational Discrimination
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CARNEY of Cumberland.
Cosponsored by Representative MOONEN of Portland and
Senators: DUSON of Cumberland, INGWERSEN of York, RAFFERTY of York, ROTUNDO 
of Androscoggin, TIPPING of Penobscot, Representatives: KUHN of Falmouth, SATO of 
Gorham, SINCLAIR of Bath.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  5 MRSA §4613, sub-§2, ¶B, as amended by PL 2023, c. 263, §1, is further 
amended by amending subparagraph (7) to read:
(7)  An order to pay to the victim of unlawful discrimination, other than 
employment discrimination in the case of a respondent who has more than 14 
employees or intentional educational discrimination, or, if the commission brings 
action on behalf of the victim, an order to pay to the victim, the commission or 
both, civil penal damages not in excess of $20,000 in the case of the first order 
under this Act against the respondent, not in excess of $50,000 in the case of a 2nd 
order against the respondent arising under the same subchapter of this Act and not 
in excess of $100,000 in the case of a 3rd or subsequent order against the 
respondent arising under the same subchapter of this Act, except that the total 
amount of civil penal damages awarded in any action filed under this Act may not 
exceed the limits contained in this subparagraph;
Sec. 2.  5 MRSA §4613, sub-§2, ¶B, as amended by PL 2023, c. 263, §1, is further 
amended by enacting a new subparagraph (7-A) to read:
(7-A)  In cases of intentional educational discrimination, compensatory damages 
as provided in this subparagraph.
(a)  A complaining party may recover compensatory damages for loss of 
education, loss of educational opportunity, past and future pecuniary losses, 
emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment 
of life and other nonpecuniary losses.
(b)  When a discriminatory practice involves the provision of a reasonable 
accommodation, damages may not be awarded under this subparagraph when 
the educational institution demonstrates good faith efforts, in consultation with 
the person with the disability who has informed the educational institution that 
accommodation is needed, to identify and make a reasonable accommodation 
that would provide that individual with an equally effective opportunity and 
would not cause an undue hardship on the operation of the educational 
institution.
(c)  Compensatory damages awarded under this subparagraph do not include 
any other type of relief authorized elsewhere under this subsection.
(d)  Nothing in this subparagraph may be construed to limit the scope of or the 
relief available under any other state or federal law.
(e)  If a complaining party seeks compensatory damages under this 
subparagraph, any party may demand a trial by jury.
(f)  This subparagraph does not apply to recoveries for a practice that is 
unlawful only because of its disparate impact;
SUMMARY
This bill modifies provisions of the Maine Human Rights Act to allow a court to award 
compensatory damages in cases of intentional educational discrimination. Compensatory 
damages include damages for loss of education, loss of educational opportunity, past and 
future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of 
enjoyment of life and other nonpecuniary losses. 
The bill specifies that these compensatory damages are not available in cases when the 
discriminatory practice involves the provision of a reasonable accommodation and the 
educational institution had demonstrated good faith efforts, in consultation with the person 
with the disability, to make a reasonable accommodation that would provide that individual 
with an equally effective opportunity and would not cause undue hardship on the operation 
of the educational institution. 
Compensatory damages are not available in cases in which the practice was unlawful 
only because of its disparate impact. 
The bill also adds language that excludes cases of intentional educational 
discrimination from the existing limited monetary remedy available for unlawful 
discrimination under the Maine Human Rights Act.