ROCKLAND (AP) – A couple given the boot for bringing a toddler into an elegant inn filed suit in Knox County Superior Court.

The Maine Human Rights Commission already ruled in favor of the couple from Hawaii evicted from the Inn at Ocean’s Edge in Camden. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, seeks monetary damages over the incident.

The innkeepers contended Gilbert and Elizabeth Riviere violated the inn’s policy by letting their 21-month-old child stay with them in the room while visiting Maine for a wedding in July 2001.

When the boy was discovered, the innkeepers ordered the family to leave. When they refused, a state trooper who reviewed the confirmation card stipulating the room’s capacity of two asked the couple to leave.

Maine law prohibits the banning of children from any public lodging containing five or more rooms. Innkeeper Ray and Marie Donner, who have 27 rooms, said they were unaware of the law and have since changed the policy.

Marie Donner said Friday that she hadn’t seen the lawsuit but she described it as a waste of the court’s time.

“We think it’s revenge,” said Donner, who said she and her husband just wanted to put the episode behind them.

During the case before the Maine Human Rights Commission, Ray Donner said an employee saw Gilbert Riviere running into the building with what appeared to be a baby shielded under his coat.

The inn markets itself as a romantic getaway. Its rooms include a canopy bed, large hot tub and gas fireplace.

In the lawsuit, the Rivieres, of Waialua, Hawaii, contend Donner, by using a trooper to evict the family, “falsely and improperly restrained (their) freedom of movement an action.”

The lawsuit seeks monetary judgement of a “reasonable amount,” plus statutory penalties, interest, costs and attorney fees.

AP-ES-07-04-03 1211EDT