Diesel
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NEWS: CITY[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Investigator favors Bangor pilot [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Friday, December 09, 2005 - Bangor Daily News[/FONT] << Back[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]AUGUSTA - A Bangor pilot who refused to fly an airplane because one of its gauges wasn't working was unlawfully fired in retaliation, an investigator for the Maine Human Rights Commission concluded.
Another investigator for the panel recommended the commission find in favor of an Old Town woman in her claim that a Bangor coffee shop employee sexually harassed her.
The commission is expected to rule on both cases when it meets Monday.
Aric Merrow, a pilot with AirNow - also known as Business Air Inc., based in Bennington, Vt. - was fired April 8, 2004. AirNow management claims Merrow's job performance and attitude deteriorated over the course of several months' employment with the company in its Bangor location.
But Merrow claimed he was fired for failing to fly a cargo airplane on March 31, 2004, after he deemed the aircraft and weather conditions unsafe. Merrow flew freight at night to points in New England.
On that date, investigator Barbara Lelli wrote, before taking off, Merrow discovered the aircraft's attitude indicator was inoperative. In aeronautics, attitude is the position of an aircraft in relation to a given line or plane, such as the horizon.
Merrow returned to the hangar and with a mechanic "worked ... using a flashlight in the dark, trying to swap" the right attitude indicator to the left side.
Merrow said he called a supervisor referred to as "Chief" to say he was "uncomfortable flying the plane that night. 'Chief' pushed him to fly in spite of his concerns, and concluded by saying, 'Do what you gotta do, Buddy,'" the report says.
The mechanic supported Merrow's version of events, Lelli reported, telling her: "Tonight didn't look like the night to go darting into the clouds with only one attitude indicator ... which you are not sure works or not."
The supervisor told Lelli he didn't think Merrow was concerned about safety, but rather "just wanted the night off." Management also said Merrow had other performance problems, such as being found out of uniform, taxiing across a runway without clearance, and refusing to help another pilot transfer cargo from one aircraft to another.
But Lelli recommended the commission find in his favor.
In another case, investigator Susan Clark recommended the commission find reasonable grounds for Sarah Ogden's claim that she was sexually harassed by an employee of the Loose Moose coffee shop.
Ogden began working at the shop in the Bangor Mall in June 2003.
According to Clark's report, a man who worked at the coffee shop kissed Ogden her first day on the job.
"Within days of my employment, 'Mr. Two' began making sexually based comments ... whenever he and I worked together," Ogden claimed, including suggesting she go to a hotel with him.
The behavior escalated with the man grabbing Ogden's breast and rubbing himself against her. Ogden lost her job when, she was told, the business sold. But Clark's investigation concluded that the business had not been sold.
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[FONT=Times New Roman, Times, serif]Friday, December 09, 2005 - Bangor Daily News[/FONT] << Back[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]AUGUSTA - A Bangor pilot who refused to fly an airplane because one of its gauges wasn't working was unlawfully fired in retaliation, an investigator for the Maine Human Rights Commission concluded.
Another investigator for the panel recommended the commission find in favor of an Old Town woman in her claim that a Bangor coffee shop employee sexually harassed her.
The commission is expected to rule on both cases when it meets Monday.
Aric Merrow, a pilot with AirNow - also known as Business Air Inc., based in Bennington, Vt. - was fired April 8, 2004. AirNow management claims Merrow's job performance and attitude deteriorated over the course of several months' employment with the company in its Bangor location.
But Merrow claimed he was fired for failing to fly a cargo airplane on March 31, 2004, after he deemed the aircraft and weather conditions unsafe. Merrow flew freight at night to points in New England.
On that date, investigator Barbara Lelli wrote, before taking off, Merrow discovered the aircraft's attitude indicator was inoperative. In aeronautics, attitude is the position of an aircraft in relation to a given line or plane, such as the horizon.
Merrow returned to the hangar and with a mechanic "worked ... using a flashlight in the dark, trying to swap" the right attitude indicator to the left side.
Merrow said he called a supervisor referred to as "Chief" to say he was "uncomfortable flying the plane that night. 'Chief' pushed him to fly in spite of his concerns, and concluded by saying, 'Do what you gotta do, Buddy,'" the report says.
The mechanic supported Merrow's version of events, Lelli reported, telling her: "Tonight didn't look like the night to go darting into the clouds with only one attitude indicator ... which you are not sure works or not."
The supervisor told Lelli he didn't think Merrow was concerned about safety, but rather "just wanted the night off." Management also said Merrow had other performance problems, such as being found out of uniform, taxiing across a runway without clearance, and refusing to help another pilot transfer cargo from one aircraft to another.
But Lelli recommended the commission find in his favor.
In another case, investigator Susan Clark recommended the commission find reasonable grounds for Sarah Ogden's claim that she was sexually harassed by an employee of the Loose Moose coffee shop.
Ogden began working at the shop in the Bangor Mall in June 2003.
According to Clark's report, a man who worked at the coffee shop kissed Ogden her first day on the job.
"Within days of my employment, 'Mr. Two' began making sexually based comments ... whenever he and I worked together," Ogden claimed, including suggesting she go to a hotel with him.
The behavior escalated with the man grabbing Ogden's breast and rubbing himself against her. Ogden lost her job when, she was told, the business sold. But Clark's investigation concluded that the business had not been sold.
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