Opinion ID: 1927753
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Alternative Justification for Berube's Termination

Text: Finally, the Superior Court properly rejected A-P-A's argument that absent any unlawful discrimination plaintiff Berube would have been terminated in any event because of his bad driving record. In Maine Human Rights Commission v. City of Auburn, 425 A.2d 990, 995-96 (Me. 1981), we held that once an employee proves that he was the victim of unlawful employment discrimination, the burden then shifts to the employer to prove by clear and convincing evidence that absent any unlawful discrimination the employee would not have been hired in any event. In the case at bar the Superior Court found that with the sole exception of the x-ray screening, Berube met all of A-P-A's criteria for permanent employment; that although Berube had 15 points against his driver's license, none of those points was assessed as a result of traffic infractions from the operation of a truck; that Berube was not in immediate danger of losing his license at the time of his termination; that A-P-A did not obtain the report on Berube's driving record until after the date it was to decide whether to make Berube a permanent employee; and that even if A-P-A had obtained that report earlier, it would not have resulted in his termination because of the overall positive impression Berube had made on A-P-A management. Based on those factual findings, the Superior Court determined that A-P-A had failed to adduce clear and convincing evidence that Berube would have been terminated even absent his x-ray results. On the record before us, we cannot say that finding was clearly erroneous. See M.R.Civ. P. 52(a).