A married gay couple has claimed that they faced horrific homophobic insults from their former colleagues while working for a solar panel company in Maine.
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they → claim → Maine
Wilmer Muchacho, 46, and Jose Cordero, 30, alleged in a lawsuit filed last week in Maine District Court viewed by the Daily Mail that the harassment started 'just a few months' after they started working as solar panel installers for Centre Electric in Holden in May 2023.
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they → allege → May
The suit claimed that the couple's coworkers learned about their relationship and started insulting them using homophobic slurs and the name of a sexually transmitted infection.
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coworkers → claim → infection
Muchacho and Cordero immediately reported the harassment and were transferred to a different location in Mattawamkeag, per the legal filing.
But the couple claimed that the insults only continued at the new location, with some of their new coworkers also allegedly throwing food at them.
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some → report → them
The couple claimed that Centre Electric assigned them to work with employees who had already harassed them at their first worksite.
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who → claim → worksite
When they spoke up, the company allegedly denied them meal and bathroom breaks, the freedom to go warm up in their car on breaks and the possibility of weekend work.
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company → speak → work
Muchacho and Cordero were eventually fired in February 2024 for what the company said was tardiness, leaving early and disrespectful behavior, per the suit.
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company → fire → suit
They alleged they were not given any warnings and have sued for discrimination and retaliation.
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they → allege → discrimination
Married couple Wilmer Muchacho, 46, and Jose Cordero, 30, have alleged that they faced repeated homophobic abuse while working as solar panel installers for Centre Electric
Centre Electric, which is based in Minnesota, allegedly 'issued no reprimands' to the employees harassing Muchacho and Cordero
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which → allege → Muchacho
The couple has demanded a jury trial and are seeking a ruling that would make Centre Electric award them back pay for lost wages and benefits.
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Electric → demand → wages
They have also asked that the solar panel company be ordered to provide civil rights training to employees.
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company → ask → employees
Muchacho said the couple was 'putting our trust in a jury of Maine people to hear our story and to help us find justice.
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us → say → justice
'
'In the United States, everyone deserves to be treated with dignity at work, no matter who we love,' he told the Bangor Daily News.
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he → deserve → News
Muchacho and Cordero, who the suit said currently reside in New York City, claimed they made about $23 per hour of work at Centre Electric.
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they → say → Electric
They specified that the alleged harassment began around September 2023 at Centre Electric's plant in Holden.
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harassment → specify → Holden
According to the lawsuit, the vile insults included their colleagues calling them 'gonorrhea' and 'f*****s,' as well as a similar-meaning word in Spanish.
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colleagues → accord → Spanish
They 'immediately reported this hostile work environment' to a human resources employee and were transferred to the second location in response, per the filing.
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They → report → filing
Centre Electric is based in Minnesota as a company but also operates in Maine.
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Electric → base → Maine
The couple claimed the homophobic insults continued even after they were moved from a worksite in Holden to a different location in Mattawamkeag (Photo of the Mattawamkeag River)
The couple claimed Centre Electric 'undertook no investigation and issued no reprimands' to any of their coworkers after the initial report.
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Electric → claim → report
Instead, the alleged harassment continued and intensified in Mattawamkeag.
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harassment → allege → Mattawamkeag
Muchacho and Cordero kept making reports but were effectively ignored by the company, who 'took no further action to remediate the harassment,' per the suit.
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who → keep → suit
The company instead allegedly began 'retaliating' against the couple by denying them 'benefits' that other employees had, the filing said.
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filing → begin → that
Centre Electric fired Muchacho and Cordero in February 2024, less than a year after they started working there.
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they → fire → February
In the lawsuit, the couple claimed that the company did not give them 'any warnings or disciplinary action regarding their supposed tardiness, early departures or disrespectful behavior' before sacking them.
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company → claim → them
On April 5, 2024, Wilmer and Jose filed complaints with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging discrimination based on sex and retaliation.
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Wilmer → file → sex
The EEOC found that there was reasonable cause to believe that Centre Electric retaliated against the couple on account of sex, according to the suit.
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Electric → find → suit
Muchacho and Cordero were then issued right to sue letters by the EEOC by July, per the filing.
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Muchacho → issue → filing
The Daily Mail has reached out to Muchacho and Cordero's attorney, Peter G Mancuso, and Centre Electric for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
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