AUGUSTA – A Maine Human Rights Commission investigator is recommending that the panel find reasonable grounds that Saddleback Ski Area discriminated against an electrician who claims the resort was breaking state law by having its employees do electrical work when they were not licensed to do so in October 2004.

Robert Duggan Jr., of New Gloucester, was employed as an electrician by Integrity Electric of Farmington and working on a project at Saddleback, according to an August 2006 commission report signed by chief investigator Brenda Haskell.

“It’s a safety issue,” Duggan said Thursday. In an industry where doing something wrong can lead to accidents involving high-voltage lines, you can’t cut corners, he said.

“You do the right thing, and you lose your job,” he added of his complaint.

Duggan notified the state electrical inspector that Saddleback employees were doing illegal electrical work, and his former employer informed Duggan that Saddleback officials were pushing for his dismissal because he had blown the whistle on them, according to Haskell’s report.

The report quotes Mike Carleton, Duggan’s then-employer and the owner of Integrity Electric.

“The atmosphere at Saddleback was very antagonistic toward all Integrity employees. Threats were made about taking all work away from Integrity employees,” Carleton told Human Rights Commission investigators, the report states.

“Within six working days, I was fired,” Duggan said Thursday night.

But Carleton denies that and said Thursday his company never fired Duggan.

Meanwhile Saddleback’s lawyer, Stephen Langsdorf, said the resort is not subject to Maine’s Whistleblower Protection Act in this case because Duggan was not directly employed by the resort.

The act clearly states that it’s the employer’s responsibility, Langsdorf said. He also maintains that Saddleback officials never pressured Duggan’s employer to fire him.

Maine’s five human rights commissioners will hear the case on Sept. 18 in Augusta.