Maine Human Rights Commission supports findings that City of Saco discriminated against former Economic Development Director

Liz Gotthelf, Publisher•

SACO — The Maine Human Right Commission has found that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the City of Saco discriminated against a former economic development director.

William Mann was the city’s Economic Development Director from December 2014 to February 2018. He was 54 years old at the time he was hired. Kevin Sutherland came onboard as city administrator September 2015 at the age of 32 and held the position until January 2020.

Mann filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission in December 2018 claiming that the City of Saco and Sutherland discriminated him based on age and/or sex when he was discharged from the position.

Maine Human Rights Commission Investigator Alice Neal, in a report filed in December 2020, found reasonable grounds that the City of Saco discriminated against Mann on the basis of age or sex, but found no reasonable grounds that Sutherland discriminated against him on the basis of age or sex.

The Maine Human Rights Commission at its Feb. 8 meeting voted in favor of Neal’s recommendations, deciding that there was reasonable ground the city had discriminated against Mann but no reasonable grounds that Sutherland had.

Although the case was filed against both the city and the former city administrator, claims against Sutherland were not analyzed in the report. Individual supervisory employees cannot be held liable as employers under the Maine Human Rights Administration. There are cases where an individual can be held liable for interfering with a complainant’s rights, but the allegations against Sutherland did not rise to this level, according to the report.

The Maine Human Rights Commission

The Maine Human Rights Commission is a quasi-independent state agency that investigates complaints of unlawful discrimination. The commission receives about 750 complaints a year, said Director Amy Sneirson. One of the primary functions of the Commission is to “take the burden off the court system,” she said.

After an investigator completes an investigation and files a report, it goes for a vote before the commission. The commission may vote that there are reasonable grounds that someone has been discriminated against, but this decision is not binding like that made in a court of law, said Sneirson.

If the commission decides there is reasonable grounds of discrimination, then a mediation process begins. If mediation is not successful, a civil action may be filed in Superior Court.

The Report

According to Neal’s report, Mann said Sutherland made statements that he wanted Saco to appeal to "millennials" and "hipsters" and he did not agree with the vision of the city’s former comprehensive plan which included a senior living housing project. Mann stated that Sutherland said if the focus was to create a senior housing community, then Saco would “die on the vine,” and he didn’t want the new comprehensive plan written by “a bunch of old white guys," according to the report.

Sutherland said in a meeting held during Neal's investigation process that Saco’s last comprehensive plan was written in the 1980s or 1990s by “a bunch of old white guys,” and he wanted the next plan to be written by a committee that reflected the more diverse community of Saco. He said he didn’t have a problem with Mann working on the plan, and his reference was historical and not pointed at Mann, according to Neal’s report.

Sutherland said that statements he made were taken out of context. Neal said in her report that Sutherland’s statements show his mindset as a City Administrator.

“Based on that mindset, it is likely that his desire not to have the Plan written by a ‘bunch of old white guys,’ and to have millennials and ‘hipsters’ residing in Saco, was a motivating factor in the Complainant’s discharge,” said Neal in the report.

In March 2017 the city received complaints regarding Mann from outside entities and in May 2017 Mann received a written warning for not distributing materials to the City Council on time, not meeting Sutherland’s priorities set in November 2016, and going over Sutherland’s head to discuss another city employee with members of the City Council, according to the report.

In December 2017, Sutherland asked Mann to find a new job and said he expected Mann in the end of January 2018 to give a two week notice of an intention to leave the position. Mann was asked to leave the job on Feb. 22 during a meeting with two other colleagues after Sutherland learned that Mann had allegedly made promises to multiple parties interested in a grant, when only one party could receive the grant, according to Neal’s report. After Sutherland told him he was dismissed from his job, Mann requested the other people in the room be asked to leave and that human resources join him and Sutherland. Human Resources did not know of Sutherland’s plans to discharge Mann. While Sutherland said he thought he followed the right procedure, Mann said proper procedure was not followed, according to Neal’s report.

“The record reflects that Sutherland did not want to have Saco become a senior community – that thought process states a direct age preference, which it appears infected the City’s employment decisions. Between 2017 and 2018, respondent discharged six permanent employees – all of whom were men and the average age of those discharged was 51.5 years old. Respondent’s actions show that older men were discharged,” wrote Neal in her findings.

Both Sutherland and current Saco City Administrator Bryan Kaenrath said they could not comment on the matter, as the case is still pending. Mann did not respond to media requests.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at [email protected].