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Attorney Profile

Robert W. Kline - Principal

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Areas of Concentration

Employment Law for Management
Age, Disability, Gender & Harassment Claims
Civil Litigation
Education Law
ERISA Litigation
Stockbroker Claims (FINRA)
Trial Practice
Wage & Hour
Retaliation and Whistleblower Protection
Workers' Compensation

Admission Details

Maine
New Hampshire
Missouri
1st Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals

Law School Attended

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Washington University, J.D.

University Attended

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Beloit College, B.A. Business and Economics

Associations & Memberships

Maine State Bar Association; New Hampshire Bar Association and The Missouri Bar.

Our Record

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Representing Maine and New Hampshire employers and professionals – Bob has earned multiple successful decisions
In Raymond Chaloult v. Interstate Brands Company, October 2003, Bob earned a jury verdict for IBC against a male-on-male sexual harassment claim.
Taking over the case two weeks before trial, Bob secured an employer jury verdict on March 23, 2006, in the age discrimination claim of Ronald Jones v. Gobeil’s Furniture Galleries in Cumberland County Superior Court. Mr. Jones’ attorney had to personally pay Gobeil’s court costs!
In Bonnie Chaloult v. Interstate Brands Company, summary judgment for the employer, case dismissed – an employee should have reported sexual harassment before quitting. Decision was affirmed on appeal to the First Circuit on August 28, 2008.
In an FMLA retaliation lawsuit for a discharge 11 days after returning from FMLA leave, Bob secured an employer jury verdict in Jacquelyn Rhoades v. Camden National Corporation on December 5, 2008.
Defending Bentley’s Saloon against a claim of ownership by a former general manager in James Harris v. Bentley’s Saloon, Bob defeated these claims winning a November 24, 2009 decision.
On the whistleblower retaliation claim of David Theriault v. Hi Tech Insulation Services, Bob obtained judgment at trial for the employer in the Androscoggin Superior Court on September 29, 2011.
A declaratory judgment was obtained for our client, Ralph Harrington, establishing an easement across Plaintiff’s land in Robert Laux v. Ralph Harrington, tried before the Oxford County Superior Court in March 2011 which judgment was affirmed on appeal by the Law Court on February 21, 2012. Read the Maine Lawyers Review article here.
The Unemployment Insurance Commission decision was flipped on March 30, 2012, in favor of our client, RSVP Beverage and Redemption Center, on appeal the Superior Court agreed that an employee late 90 percent of the time should be denied unemployment benefits.
In September 2012, a banquet server-class action for Maine tip statute violations was stopped in its tracks on summary judgment – which judgment was affirmed on appeal – Allison Hayden-Tidd v. The Cliff House & Motels, Inc., et al. Read the Maine Lawyers Review article here. The servers were represented by Shannon Liss-Riordan who in April 2016 negotiated a $100 million settlement in a California Uber driver class action.

An employee asserted that her application to operate a licensed marijuana dispensary protected her from being fired for neglecting her job. In January 2013, the Law Court upheld on appeal our successful Motion to Dismiss this lawsuit. The Court disapproved the expanded Maine Medical Use of Marijuana Act claim asserted – Jody L. Savage v. Maine Pretrial Services, Inc. See the Maine Lawyers Review article here.
Less than four months after taking over the defense in Daniel Ouellette v. Maine Pretrial Services, et al., Bob secured the June 29, 2015 dismissal of the Maine Civil Rights Act claim brought in Androscoggin County Superior Court.
In February 2017, within 10 days of filing a complaint in federal court for a temporary restraining order to bar a former salesperson working for a competitor, supported by a Confidentiality, Non-Disclosure, and Non-Compete Agreement, Bob secured an unconditional resignation of the new employment.
Bob secured vindication for a dentist in a Superior Court decision handed down on March 13, 2017. The sequence started when two disgruntled dental hygienists triggered a surprise OSHA inspection on October 4, 2011. The Court upheld the dentist reporting to the Board of Dental Examiners upon learning that one of these hygienists, while the dentist was away, without permission and in violation of the standards of practice, treated a co-worker’s boyfriend.
Within three months of filing suit in January 2019 on behalf of a Maine wholesale wine distributor against a California wine brand Certificate of Approval Holder, all claims were successfully resolved.
Her medical career was interrupted by the doctor’s June 5, 2014 suspension – it ended with her December 18, 2014 stroke. Bob proved that the stroke was the explosion of the stress ticking away the year leading up to her suspension. Her stroke found compensable, the doctor was awarded total incapacity workers’ compensation benefits in Stein v. Inland Hospital upheld by the Appellate Division on November 26, 2019 (unchanged by the Law Court on February 28, 2020).