How to read an investigator’s report

The fact sheet the Maine Human Rights Commission publishes for complainants, read on September 6, 2026, describes the investigator's report as a document containing a summary of the facts given by both sides, ending in a recommendation to the Commission. That sentence is the key to reading one. The report is not the decision, and its author decides nothing: the vote belongs to the Commissioners, later, in a meeting that is open to the public.

Two halves: facts, then a recommendation

The document has two halves, and the fact sheet names both. The body of the report is a summary of the facts given by both sides, the allegations and the answers, set one against the other. The last page carries a recommendation to the Commission as to whether there are or are not reasonable grounds to believe that unlawful discrimination occurred. Reasonable grounds is the finding the Commissioners vote on; the recommendation is the investigator's proposal for that vote, no more. The report is written only when settlement fails and the complaint is not withdrawn. The same page lists the shapes the inquiry may take instead: an Issues and Resolution Conference, a Fact-Finding Conference, an interview by phone or in person, or a decision that the file already holds enough from both parties. The stages that lead here are traced in this site's account of how a complaint moves.

The writer represents neither side

The fact sheet gives one of its questions to a common assumption and answers it in a sentence: the investigator does not represent the complainant or the respondent. The job is to look at all of the information provided by both sides and to determine whether there has been a violation of the Maine Human Rights Act. The complainant receives a copy of the respondent's answers and may submit information in writing tending to show that the reasons given are not accurate. The inquiry itself may take several forms. A Fact-Finding Conference is a meeting with the investigator, not a formal hearing as would be held in court, not open to the public, and open only to those persons the investigator determines to be necessary. Such conferences are usually held at a neutral place, sometimes at the respondent's place of business when witnesses or records are there.

Is the recommendation the decision?

It is not, and the procedure built around the report proves it. Either party has a seventeen day period, which the fact sheet prints in words and figures, to make a written submission of disagreement. The Commissioners then review the investigator's report and any submissions, listen to oral argument, and vote on the case at a scheduled Commission Meeting which is open to the public. The structural difference from a judgment is visible on the page: a court decision runs from findings to an order, and this site untangles the anatomy of a court decision in its reading folios, while an investigator's report runs from a summary to a proposal. The last page answers only the question of what the investigator thinks. What the Commission found is answered in the vote.

What the file keeps private, and until when

The file behind the report is confidential until one of two things happens: the case is administratively dismissed, or it is listed on a Commission Meeting Agenda. That listing is the hinge where a closed investigation becomes a public vote. During the investigation the information is shared with the parties and their legal representatives, provided a properly completed Non-Disclosure Form is on file, and the identities of persons who are not parties remain confidential after dismissal or listing. Settlement keeps its own confidences: discussions are confidential, the final written agreement is confidential too, and the Commission does not formally close a settled case until every obligation has been met. A complainant may withdraw the complaint once terms are agreed; the fact sheet adds that the Commission will not be able to enforce the terms of that agreement.

The clocks around the last page

Every figure in the table below is published by one document, the Commission's fact sheet After a Complaint Has Been Filed, read on September 6, 2026 and marked Revised 4/12. Side by side, the numbers show where a report falls in the life of a case: after the gathering, before the vote. One number missing is the deadline for filing a complaint in the first place; the pages read do not publish it.

Stage of the case	Published time
Respondent answers the complaint	Generally one month; extensions at the Commission's discretion
Answers sent on to the complainant	Usually within six weeks of the notification
Full investigation	Several months to over a year
Whole Commission process	Within two years after the complaint is filed
Written objection to a recommendation	Seventeen days
Request for a right-to-sue letter	Once the complaint has been on file 180 days or more
Court action after the process	The greater of two years after the alleged act, or 90 days from a dismissal, right-to-sue letter or failed conciliation

What can follow the vote?

The Commission is the state agency that investigates discrimination complaints under the Maine Human Rights Act, and a court action is a different thing. Where a case does not resolve and a binding order under the Act is sought, the action must be filed in the Maine Superior Court. The Commission itself files in court in only a small number of cases where it finds reasonable grounds; in cases alleging Fair Housing Act violations, it will file an action if the case does not resolve. An earlier exit exists in the right to sue: once a complaint has been on file, in the fact sheet's figure, 180 days or more, a request for a right-to-sue letter stops the investigation immediately, and the complaint is administratively dismissed upon the request. Retaliation for filing a complaint, or for helping an investigation, is against the law, and a complaint of retaliation may itself be filed.

The fact sheet closes on a housekeeping rule: a complaint can be dismissed if the Commission cannot reach the complainant, so a move or a changed telephone number must be reported. The sheet itself is published on the Commission's website under the filing pages, and the meetings at which these votes are taken are open to anyone.