The suit claims the policy is unfair because Hispanic people in this area are more likely
not to have degrees.
AUBURN – A local Mexican man is suing Tambrands Inc., claiming a company policy requiring employees to have a high school diploma or GED certificate discriminates against Hispanics.
Jose Rodriguez of Lewiston began working on the production line at Tambrands in 1990. He got the temporary job at the Auburn plant through an employment agency.
During his first two years on the job, he claims in his lawsuit, his salary was increased from $7 to $8 an hour and he never received any verbal or written criticisms on his job performance.
According to the suit, he left the job at the tampon-making factory in June 2001 to move closer to his family in Oklahoma.
When he moved back in January 2002, he contacted the employment agency that was placing people at Tambrands in an attempt to get his job back. The employment agency, ADECCO, told him that he was no longer eligible for the job because Tambrands had started requiring applicants for those production jobs to have high school diplomas or General Educational Development certificates.
In his lawsuit, filed this month in Androscoggin County Superior Court, Rodriguez claims that the policy is unfair because Hispanic people in this area are more likely than other job applicants not to have high school degrees.
“You just can’t mindlessly impose requirements that aren’t job related, if the effect is more likely to affect a certain group,” said Rodriguez’ lawyer, Curtis Webber of Auburn.
Rodriguez filed his suit against Tambrands and ADECCO. He is seeking damages for lost wages and benefits as well as compensation for his emotional distress and inconvenience.
A spokeswoman for Proctor & Gamble, which owns Tambrands, said company officials do not believe that Rodriguez has any basis for his claims. She declined to comment further, explaining that company policy bars her from discussing matters in litigation.
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