A Maine Human Rights Commission investigator reported finding reasonable grounds to believe that Dan Beck, co-owner and manager of Moody’s Diner, discriminated against a longtime employee because of her religious beliefs.
Beck also allegedly created a hostile work environment and retaliated against the 11-year employee after she complained, according to investigator Michele Dion’s report.
Beck allegedly subjected the employee to “severe and pervasive” harassment after she began dating his son Nate Beck in October 2012.
Dan Beck and his attorney Janet Britton on Friday “categorically” denied all allegations and the findings of the investigator. Britton said the case is not about religion, but about the employee’s relationship with Nate Beck.
The employee who filed the discrimination complaint began working as a server at Moody’s in 2002 – and continues to work there. She told the investigator that “religion was not an issue” at first, although she said “Moody’s is generally staffed and frequented by persons who espouse the same Christian beliefs and attend the same church.”
But when the woman began to date Nate Beck, his father allegedly told her that she and his son were “not following Jesus” and were “betraying God,” according to the investigator’s report. The employee said she was reprimanded for being rude at the restaurant and berated about religion during a dinner at the Becks’ home.
In 2013, Dan Beck allegedly called the employee and said he and his wife were coming to her house to meet with her. According to the report, the employee said she didn’t want them confronting her in front of her children, after which Dan Beck allegedly told his son “that if [the employee] did not come to his house to talk to him, she would not be allowed to work again. [Dan Beck] insisted the issue was a work issue that needed to be addressed immediately,” so the woman went to his home.
The report alleges that Dan Beck then confronted the woman about a Facebook post and “screamed and swore at her, and tried to get her to say that the post was about them,” according to the investigator’s report.
Later, Dan Beck allegedly asked the woman to pray with him, which she said she did “because she was afraid.”
According to the report, Nate Beck told his father in July 2013 that he and the woman were moving in together, and Dan Beck demanded a meeting at the diner, saying it was “about work.”
Nate Beck recorded the meeting, according to the report. In a transcript provided to the commission and to the Bangor Daily News by the woman’s attorney, Rebecca Webber, Dan Beck allegedly told the couple he had been unable to “separate work and personal,” and asked both to look for other jobs.
According to the transcript, Nate Beck told his father, “Do you have any idea how … unprofessional this whole situation is, how, how much under the category of harassment and bullying it could be put under … you’re using your personal relationship with one of your employees as leverage to ask them to leave their place of employment, not to do anything with their work performance but all to do with their personal lives.”
Dan Beck reportedly said to the woman, “You don’t believe in Christ.”
The two declined to seek other employment, after which, according to woman, Dan Beck told other employees to watch her “to see if they could find problems with her work.” She told the investigator she was put on a 30-day probation and that her shifts were reduced.
Dan Beck denies any unlawful discrimination, harassment or retaliation. In a response to the investigator, Britton, his attorney, wrote, “It seems highly unlikely that respondent would suddenly begin to discriminate against her for her religious beliefs … if complainant had not been in a romantic relationship with son, there would be no issue.”
Dan Beck denied ever having “religious conversations” with his employee at work and said personal conversations were an attempt “to parent” his son.
The MHRC investigator determined that the employee established she had been subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of religion and unwelcome harassment based on her religion. The investigator also concluded that the employee “was subjected to numerous comments denigrating her beliefs … was criticized for not believing in Christ and for not being on the path of God.”
On Friday, Webber said the case “isn’t anti-Christian,” but about employees having the right to their own religious beliefs.
“Moody’s owners have a right to be devout in whatever religion they choose,” Webber said. “It’s just imposing it on employees and using the power of the employer relationship to direct or affect someone else’s religious views.”
Webber said her client, who no longer is romantically involved with Nate Beck, continues to work at Moody’s because there aren’t many year-round restaurants in the area at which she could make enough to support her children.
Reached by phone Friday at Moody’s, Dan Beck said, “I categorically deny all the allegations.”
Britton, Beck’s attorney, contests the conclusions in the investigator’s report.
“This case isn’t about religion, it’s about the relationship with the co-owner’s son,” she said. “Any conversations that took place with the co-owner were in the context of her relationship with his son.”
The Maine Human Rights Commission will hear the case on Nov. 17.
