Maryland Court of Appeals hears oral arguments in age discrimination suit
The Maryland Court of Appeals has heard oral arguments in a suit involving allegations of age discrimination brought by a former employee of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. The first issue raised on appeal is whether the state's sovereign immunity, which says the state can't be sued unless it consents to be sued, extends to local school boards. The second is whether a school board can be sued in state court over a federal law. The suit was brought by David Norville, a former media production specialist, who is seeking $2 million in damages. Andrew J. Murray, senior assistant attorney with Anne Arundel County, who is arguing the case on behalf of the school board, says the suit will "affect everybody… [r]egardless of your insurance coverage, the issue really is: Is your liability limited to $100,000, is there no liability or is there full liability?" The Maryland Association of Boards of Education (MABE), which operates an insurance pool for 17 Maryland school boards that covers injuries, contract disputes, and related claims, has filed an appellate brief in support of the Anne Arundel board. According to Stephen C. Bounds, director of legal and policy services for MABE, "Any time that you expand the scope of claims that can be brought against a public entity like a school system, that has the potential to divert resources." Beth Mellen Harrison, a lawyer with the Public Justice Center, which has filed a brief in support of Mr. Norville, believes that if the courts extend immunity to local boards thousands of students and employees will be foreclosed from vindicating their federal statutory and constitutional rights. Mr. Norville originally filed his suit in 1999 in federal district court in Baltimore. When his claims were dismissed, he filed suit in state court in Anne Arundel County. After the county court dismissed his suit, he appealed to the state's intermediate appellate court, the Court of Special Appeals. That court reinstated his claims but capped damages at $100,000, the statutory limit for claims against the state.
Baltimore SunBy Andrea F. Siegel
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