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By BETH QUIMBY
MaineToday Media, Inc. 01/03/2008

A spokesman for the retail giant denied the claim, which was filed this week with the Maine Human Rights Commission on behalf of 27-year-old Christopher Nolan.

In his complaint, Nolan said he thought it was a joke when he was asked on Dec. 8 to fill in as the store Santa Claus at the Wal-Mart on Main Street. He said his co-workers were laughing.

Nolan, who described himself as an atheist who does not believe in Christmas, said he laughed as well and then declined. "I said, 'Uh, no way,'" he said in an interview last month.

Nolan said he was surprised when his supervisor called him later to say he had an hour to change his mind. When Nolan again refused to don the Santa suit, he said, his boss brought him into his office and told him he was fired.

"He said, 'We have to do an exit interview,'" said Nolan, who said he worked at the store for three years, most recently as a bicycle assembler.

Nolan provided MaineToday Media, Inc. a copy of his exit interview form that was signed by the store manager and includes the following statement of termination from his supervisor: "Asked Chris several times to dress up as Santa Claus. Repeatly (sic) told me no and then said he would look for another job. Didn't listen to me at all. Told him I would take him out of the system."

Mandi Cotter, manager of the Sanford Wal-Mart, declined to comment on Nolan's allegation. John Simley, a spokesman at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters, said the company "can't comment on the circumstances of an associate's termination." He added that the "facts as they're described are not true."

Nolan's lawyer, Chad Hansen, of the firm Peter Thompson & Associates of Portland, said he sent the complaint to the Maine Human Rights Commission on Monday.

Under Maine law, people alleging discrimination must file a complaint with the commission before filing a lawsuit.

The commission will assign an investigator to look into Nolan's allegation. The investigator will then issue a report for the full commission, which will then vote whether there are reasonable grounds to conclude that Nolan was discriminated against. It can take up to two years for the commission to decide whether Nolan's rights were violated.

After six months Nolan could also ask the commission for a "right-to-sue letter," allowing him to take his case to a Maine superior court. At that point the commission would stop its investigation.

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