A judge says a man who threatened to kill a transgender woman at a Planet Fitness in Nashua last March violated New Hampshire's Civil Rights Act. The verdict is one of the first for the state's new Civil Rights Unit.

On Friday, Marc Bernier was ordered by a judge to pay a fine of $500, to not enter the Planet Fitness in Nashua, to not come within 250 feet of the victim, and to not violate the Civil Rights Act again. If Bernier violates the terms of the injunction, the fine will increase to $3,000 and he could face criminal charges.

Sean Locke, director of the Attorney General's Civil Rights Unit, says the verdict sends an important signal.

“It shows that the unit is out and open for business and ready to take complaints and pursue them to the fullest extent required.”

The Attorney Generals' Civil Rights Unit was established by Gov. Chris Sununu in 2017, in the wake of a rise in hate crimes in New Hampshire.