Maryland Legal Briefs: June 18, 2007

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Jun 18, 2007

National Security

The Bush administration plans to ask the full 4th Circuit Court of Appeals to re-hear its argument for keeping immigrant Ali al- Marri, above, whom the government deems an al-Qaida sleeper agent, in military detention. A divided court panel ruled last week that al- Marri was being held illegally, but the two judges who favored release are widely considered more liberal than the court as a whole.

Hiring bias alleged at city schools

A 67-year-old black man is suing the Baltimore City Public School System alleging three of its white managers denied him an interview for a job because of his age and race.

According to the lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court, Theodore E. Thornton Sr. was otherwise qualified for the human resources supervisor position that was eventually filled by a younger white man handpicked by the managers.

Thornton claims he was excluded from the interview pool, in part, because of his insistence on following equal opportunity and competitive selection protocol during his previous tenure at a BCPPS job "indistinguishable" from the one for which he applied in 2005.

"As an interviewed candidate, [Thornton's] presence within the limited pool of candidates interviewed would have exposed as transparent the gambit pursued by Defendants [Jeff] Grotsky, [William] Boden, and [George] Duque to hire the inexperienced and underqualified White Area Executive Officer," John H. Morris Jr., Thornton's attorney, wrote in the complaint.

Thornton worked as "Managing Director of Human Resources" from 1999 until 2001 when then-superintendent Carmen Russo, to whom he had voiced his objections about certain white hires, suggested he resign, the suit states. Prior to being recruited to Baltimore by former BCPPS CEO Robert Booker, Thornton had previously held personnel supervisory positions for the State of Maryland, the City of Richmond, and the District of Columbia, the suit states.

Thornton seeks $1 million in compensatory damages under three counts of civil rights violations and $1.05 million in punitive damages under two of those. He also seeks $350,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages on a conspiracy to interfere with civil rights count.

Firm blames ex-employee

Lemon-law firm Kimmel & Silverman P.C. has responded to a putative class-action malpractice suit against it, claiming that clients' problems were the fault of an attorney no longer with the firm. The suit, filed in Baltimore County Circuit Court against the firm and some of its current and past attorneys earlier this year by former client Jenny Jimenez-Kruse, alleges that the firm took her case against Hyundai Motor America but failed to respond to discovery requests from the carmaker and failed to designate a qualified car expert. The putative class includes former Kimmel & Silverman clients who saw their cases against car manufacturers dismissed and did not recover money. In its answer to Jimenez- Kruse's complaint, the firm and its two founding partners, Craig Thor Kimmel and Robert M. Silverman, claim that the dismissals were the fault of the Maryland attorney who left in 2005, Robyn Glassman- Katz, though the answer does not refer to her by name. The Pennsylvania-based firm opened a Maryland office in 2004. It also states that all former clients whose cases were dismissed "have been made whole" with monetary settlements. The firm argues that although some cases may have been winnable when the firm took them, subsequent court opinions rendered them meritless. It also disputes that there is a valid "class."

Fast food woes - pay

Some 40 employees of KFC outlets have sued the giant chicken- restaurant chain, claiming they were illegally denied overtime pay even though they worked more than 40 hours per week and were typically scheduled for a minimum of 50 hours. The company's failure to pay them time-and-a half violates the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the employees charge in their complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Beltsville.

Fast food woes - fire

An April 2006 fire at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant in Edgewood has triggered a $75,000-plus complaint against a Hanover firm, BFPE International Inc. The fire allegedly can be traced to a defective deep-fat fryer manufactured by an Ohio company. BFPE installed and certified fire-suppression equipment at the restaurant, according to the suit, and failed to test and inspect it properly or to alert Wendy's to its deficiencies. The suit was brought in U.S. District Court by Landmark American Insurance Co., which is trying to recover its payment to Wendy's for damage and interrupted business.

Hot liquid spill

Two East Baltimore women were sitting on their front porch in June 2004 when hot tar being applied by a roofer boiled over, spilled off the roof and scalded them, according to a lawsuit filed last week in Baltimore City Circuit Court. Adria Land and Tierra Williams of the 700 block of East 21st Street are suing the roofer, Kable Enterprise LLC, alleging the company's negligence caused permanent scarring on Land's arm and Williams' head and torso. Land seeks $250,000 in damages; Williams seeks $500,000.