I lived in East Holden, Maine back in the early 80's; very nice people, but I suspect that this NYC couple would have had a difficult time there back then and, apparently, that hasn’t changed

I’m not saying their alleged cruel treatment by fellow construction workers was right; it wasn’t, and shouldn’t have happened, but honey, what were you thinking?

Gay couple harassed while working for solar panel company in Maine, lawsuit says

Wilmer Muchacho, 46, and Jose Cordero, 30, a married couple from New York City, started working in Holden as solar panel installers for Centre Electric around May 2023. The federal lawsuit says the Minnesota company discriminated against the couple before ultimately firing them.

The lawsuit, filed Oct. 14, in U.S. District Court of Maine in Bangor, alleges Centre Electric violated the Maine Human Rights Act, the federal Civil Rights Act and the Maine Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, as well as retaliated against the couple for reporting illegal conduct.

About four months after the couple started working in Holden, their coworkers started harassing them for being married, the lawsuit said. The coworkers called them slurs for gay men and referred to them as sexually transmitted diseases.

Muchacho and Cordero reported the harassment to their supervisor and they were transferred to another work site in Mattawamkeag. Coworkers at the new location also harassed the couple about their relationship, the lawsuit said. Coworkers allegedly threw food at the couple.

Centre Electric took no additional action to stop the harassment, according to the lawsuit. The company started retaliating against the men.

Other employees were allowed to go to their car to warm up on breaks, allowed meal and bathroom breaks and were given weekend work, the lawsuit said. It said the couple were denied all of those opportunities.

Muchacho and Cordero were terminated from Centre Electric in February 2024, for what the company said was tardiness and disrespectful behavior. But, they were not given any warnings for the supposed issues before they were fired, the lawsuit said.