AUGUSTA (AP) – The Maine Human Rights Commission found reasonable grounds to support a discrimination claim against a widow who rescinded a rental agreement after learning that two renters were gay.
The case represents the first in which the rights panel found reasonable grounds to support a housing discrimination claim based on sexual orientation since the state’s gay rights law went into effect in January 2006.
The Wilton episode unfolded when Kenneth Bustin and Marc Bernier rented a house owned by Helen Caton. Bustin told Caton that he, Bernier and Bustin’s mother would be living in the house.
Caton signed a rental agreement sometime between March 22 and 25, according to the commission’s investigator. Around the same time, Caton contacted a woman Bustin listed as a reference, who told her Bustin and Bernier “were once a couple.”
Caton told the reference that it didn’t matter to her about the men’s sexual orientation. But Bustin said the disclosure was telling.
“When you ask that question, it’s because you’re interested in the answer,” Bustin told the commissioners on Monday.
Bustin contends Caton’s attitude changed from cordial to “unreasonable and agitated,” according to the investigator.
A few days after signing the agreement, Caton rescinded it because the men allegedly damaged floors as they began moving in furniture. Caton planned to sell the house and was worried about damage to it, she told the investigator.
“Unfortunately, the only explanation that makes sense is that we were discriminated against. I don’t take any pleasure in saying that,” Bustin said.
Ron Aseltine, Caton’s lawyer, maintained that there was no discrimination. He said Caton never asked about the men’s sexual orientation and that the reference freely disclosed it. “It didn’t matter to her that Mr. Bustin was gay,” he said.
The complaint now proceeds to mediation. If that fails, the case can proceed to Superior Court, where a final settlement could include monetary damages.
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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com
AP-ES-09-18-07 1510EDT
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