PORTLAND — Six former employees of the University of Southern Maine are charging age discrimination as they fight to regain jobs they lost in the recent consolidation of student support services.
USM officials deny that age was a factor in decisions not to rehire the employees, who worked in the offices of academic advising, early student success and career development.
The six former employees, including state Sen. Larry Bliss, D-South Portland, have filed age discrimination complaints with the university and also are filing complaints with the Maine Human Rights Commission. Those who are union members also have filed contract grievances.
All six are older than 50, have significant experience in their fields and say they got short shrift in an interview process that was set up to get rid of them.
"They all felt pretty confident that they would be rehired and believe they were passed over for mostly younger, less experienced candidates," said their attorney, Chad Hansen, of Peter Thompson & Associates in Portland.
The university announced in July that it would combine the three offices into one unit. The goal was to provide better, more comprehensive counseling services at one-stop "student success centers" on USM's Portland, Gorham and Lewiston campuses.
It's one way the university is trying to push its freshman retention rate – the number of first-time freshmen who return as sophomores – above 68 percent and its graduation rate – the number who graduate within six years – above 34 percent.
The consolidation wouldn't cause a significant staff reduction or cost savings, USM officials said at the time.
The six employees were among 21 professional staff members who were told they would be laid off but could apply for 19 positions that would be available at the centers.
The former employees are:
• Bliss, 62, who was director of career services and professional life development.
• Mary Ann Benson, 57, of Portland, assistant director of career services and professional life development.
• Rick Wright, 55, of South Portland, academic adviser/coordinator of veterans' services.
• Louise Nisbet, 62, of South Portland, academic adviser/prior-learning assessment associate.
• Darlene Merrill, 59, of Falmouth, academic adviser/family-member orientation coordinator.
• Margaret Park, 65, of New Gloucester, academic adviser/community liaison.
Bliss said he and his former colleagues were employees in good standing, with excellent performance evaluations.
"It's extremely clear that this was a process to get rid of some people," he said. "They took six people who were over 50 and said, 'We don't want you to be part of this anymore. Goodbye.' "
Hansen said the six who lost their jobs have much more experience than most of the people who were retained.
Bliss was director of advising and counseling at San Francisco State University before coming to USM 20 years ago. Benson had been at USM for 27 years. Wright has worked in student services for 28 years, including six at USM.
Park, Nisbet and Merrill have been at USM for 11, nine and four years, respectively.
"It was as if their experience and background were excluded from the process," Hansen said.
University officials are saying little about the hiring process or the former employees while the matter is in dispute. Six adviser positions have been left unfilled until the issue is resolved.
"It was a fair and open hiring process that was done with oversight from the human resources department to make sure it complied with employee contracts," said Robert Caswell, USM's spokesman.
Caswell said the hiring process involved two search committees that included faculty and administrative staff members.
Initially, the search to fill the...
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