(Dec. 29, 2016) The national spotlight has already, and is likely to once again, focused on “the friendliest town on the Eastern Shore” as local and federal courts struggle to understand what was going on within several law enforcement agencies in the lead-up to the dismissal of the town’s first black police chief, Kelvin Sewell.
Sewell was fired by former Pocomoke City Manager Russ Blake at the end of June 2015, with Blake retiring the following day after 40 years in the job.
Sewell maintains he was dismissed in retaliation for his support, and steadfast refusal to fire another officer, Franklin Savage, who had lodged complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and eventually filed suit against the town. Following the dismissal, Sewell and another former officer, Lynell Green, joined Savage’s suit against the town alleging a host of discriminatory behaviors by several town and county agencies and officers. The case is still continuing.
This past June, almost one year after Sewell’s dismissal, Rosemarie Rhodes, director of the Baltimore Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, found “reasonable cause that unlawful employment practices” have occurred.
In letters dated April 29 but made public at the beginning of June, the EEOC offered a conciliation meeting, which had been scheduled between the parties on May 19 in the Baltimore Field Office. Representatives from both sides of the issue confirmed the meeting never occurred.
The former police chief had determinations issued on three EEOC charges, while Green and Savage each had one.
Sewell’s claims both allege he was discharged in retaliation for protected activity and due to his race. The town and police department denied these claims in the same way, and for two reasons.
First, both the town and police department deny the allegations and maintain the majority of the mayor and council lost confidence in the way Sewell managed the department, worked with other jurisdictions and maintained the loyalty of his officers.
Second, the respondents claimed Sewell believed he, and those he supervised were insulated from “proper supervision and appropriate discipline.”
“Based on this analysis, I have determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that the charging party was discharged in retaliation for protected activity,” Rhodes’ letter reads.
Sewell’s next claim was that he was denied equal benefits, subjected to unequal terms and conditions of employment and harassed in retaliation for protected activity and his race.
Rhodes’ decision revealed Sewell was subjected to repeated requests and orders to take actions against subordinates who had previously engaged in protected activity. Sewell opposed those actions and took them only under protest and the requests were “pervasive” enough to constitute harassment in retaliation for protected activity.
Green’s and Savage’s claims were similarly decided.
By late July, however, Sewell and Green were both indicted by a grand jury on charges of misconduct in office and conspiracy to commit misconduct in office, the Maryland State Prosecutor’s office revealed. The charges were related to a traffic incident in November 2014, and would be decided in mid-December.
The Office of the State Prosecutor was established 40 years ago specifically to investigate election law violations, public ethics violations, bribery law violations, official misconduct as well as related perjury, extortion or obstruction of justice claims.
The prosecutor investigates these issues under his own initiative, or via request from the governor, attorney general, General Assembly, the state ethics commission, or a State’s Attorney.
In August, State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby received a short-lived respite from the charges, as a judge ruled he enjoyed “absolute prosecutorial immunity.”
The U.S. Supreme Court held in 1976 that a state prosecuting attorney who acted within the scope of his duties in initiating, pursing a criminal prosecution and presenting a case, is absolutely immune from civil damages.
By October, because of the failure of state and local officials to attend the reconciliation meeting after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined reasonable cause existed, Sewell, Green and Savage alleged Title VII violations, which ultimately attracted the attention of the Department of Justice.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their sex, religion, color, race or national origin.
The DOJ filed a motion to intervene in the case, since the consequences of the litigation could affect the rights of others not party to the case.
“Federal law protects against discrimination and retaliation in the workplace,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a release following the announcement. “In police departments, that protection is vital not only for individual officials, but also for the communities they serve. The Justice Department is firmly committed to ensuring that our nation’s state and local law enforcement agencies comply with Title VII’s promise of a workplace free from racial discrimination and retaliation.”
Through the case the plaintiffs, and now, potentially, the United States are seeking “all appropriate monetary relief” including back pay and pre-judgment interest to Sewell, Green and Savage, as well as compensatory damages.
In addition, the plaintiffs are seeking to force the defendants to develop and implement policies, procedures and training to prevent similar circumstances from happening again.
It took until December for District Judge J. Frederick Motz to rule the United States Department of Justice can intervene as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Also in December, It took less than an hour for the jury to convict former Pocomoke City Police Chief Kelvin Sewell of misconduct in office, and he was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $1,000 fine and court costs.
A three-year jail sentence was suspended. Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt requested a six-month jail term during sentencing, while the attorney for the defense, Barry Coburn, argued successfully that imposing jail time on a 30-plus year police officer with no prior criminal record for what amounted to a traffic case would be excessive.
The jury, drawn from a pool of predominantly white Worcester County residents, was narrowed to eight men and four women, with only one member, a female, of obvious African-American descent.
The facts of the incident were never disputed. Close to midnight on Nov. 21, 2014 Doug Matthews, a guard at Eastern Correctional Institute at the time, was returning home from the Masonic Lodge in Pocomoke City. As he was making the drive, which was only a matter of blocks, his car struck two others but he continued to his residence, about another three blocks, before the car stopped functioning.
Matthews was not questioned by either party about what had happened in his home. He testified he fell asleep at the wheel, and was as shocked as anyone when he exited the vehicle to find the wheel missing, after making two turns to complete his journey home.
Former Pocomoke City Police Officer Tonya Barnes said the chief told her to write the incident up as an accident, not a hit and run, because the damaged vehicles were unoccupied at the time of the crash, no one was injured and Matthews reported the crash to the police, in the form of Green.
Barnes, an officer with seven years experience in Baltimore City but still a new hire on probation in Pocomoke City, said she felt compelled to write the report that way though it was against her better judgment. She testified she felt she was obeying an order from her supervisor in writing the report in that fashion.
Barnes continued her service in the Pocomoke City Police Department for another year before leaving. She is currently an officer at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Barnes’ report was approved by Green.
Matthews was not charged with any crimes, nor was he issued a single ticket related to the incident.
Green was charged similarly to Sewell, and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 19.
No date has been set for the discrimination case.
Sewell was fired by former Pocomoke City Manager Russ Blake at the end of June 2015, with Blake retiring the following day after 40 years in the job.
Sewell maintains he was dismissed in retaliation for his support, and steadfast refusal to fire another officer, Franklin Savage, who had lodged complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and eventually filed suit against the town. Following the dismissal, Sewell and another former officer, Lynell Green, joined Savage’s suit against the town alleging a host of discriminatory behaviors by several town and county agencies and officers. The case is still continuing.
This past June, almost one year after Sewell’s dismissal, Rosemarie Rhodes, director of the Baltimore Office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, found “reasonable cause that unlawful employment practices” have occurred.
In letters dated April 29 but made public at the beginning of June, the EEOC offered a conciliation meeting, which had been scheduled between the parties on May 19 in the Baltimore Field Office. Representatives from both sides of the issue confirmed the meeting never occurred.
The former police chief had determinations issued on three EEOC charges, while Green and Savage each had one.
Sewell’s claims both allege he was discharged in retaliation for protected activity and due to his race. The town and police department denied these claims in the same way, and for two reasons.
First, both the town and police department deny the allegations and maintain the majority of the mayor and council lost confidence in the way Sewell managed the department, worked with other jurisdictions and maintained the loyalty of his officers.
Second, the respondents claimed Sewell believed he, and those he supervised were insulated from “proper supervision and appropriate discipline.”
“Based on this analysis, I have determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that the charging party was discharged in retaliation for protected activity,” Rhodes’ letter reads.
Sewell’s next claim was that he was denied equal benefits, subjected to unequal terms and conditions of employment and harassed in retaliation for protected activity and his race.
Rhodes’ decision revealed Sewell was subjected to repeated requests and orders to take actions against subordinates who had previously engaged in protected activity. Sewell opposed those actions and took them only under protest and the requests were “pervasive” enough to constitute harassment in retaliation for protected activity.
Green’s and Savage’s claims were similarly decided.
By late July, however, Sewell and Green were both indicted by a grand jury on charges of misconduct in office and conspiracy to commit misconduct in office, the Maryland State Prosecutor’s office revealed. The charges were related to a traffic incident in November 2014, and would be decided in mid-December.
The Office of the State Prosecutor was established 40 years ago specifically to investigate election law violations, public ethics violations, bribery law violations, official misconduct as well as related perjury, extortion or obstruction of justice claims.
The prosecutor investigates these issues under his own initiative, or via request from the governor, attorney general, General Assembly, the state ethics commission, or a State’s Attorney.
In August, State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby received a short-lived respite from the charges, as a judge ruled he enjoyed “absolute prosecutorial immunity.”
The U.S. Supreme Court held in 1976 that a state prosecuting attorney who acted within the scope of his duties in initiating, pursing a criminal prosecution and presenting a case, is absolutely immune from civil damages.
By October, because of the failure of state and local officials to attend the reconciliation meeting after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined reasonable cause existed, Sewell, Green and Savage alleged Title VII violations, which ultimately attracted the attention of the Department of Justice.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the federal law that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their sex, religion, color, race or national origin.
The DOJ filed a motion to intervene in the case, since the consequences of the litigation could affect the rights of others not party to the case.
“Federal law protects against discrimination and retaliation in the workplace,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a release following the announcement. “In police departments, that protection is vital not only for individual officials, but also for the communities they serve. The Justice Department is firmly committed to ensuring that our nation’s state and local law enforcement agencies comply with Title VII’s promise of a workplace free from racial discrimination and retaliation.”
Through the case the plaintiffs, and now, potentially, the United States are seeking “all appropriate monetary relief” including back pay and pre-judgment interest to Sewell, Green and Savage, as well as compensatory damages.
In addition, the plaintiffs are seeking to force the defendants to develop and implement policies, procedures and training to prevent similar circumstances from happening again.
It took until December for District Judge J. Frederick Motz to rule the United States Department of Justice can intervene as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Also in December, It took less than an hour for the jury to convict former Pocomoke City Police Chief Kelvin Sewell of misconduct in office, and he was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $1,000 fine and court costs.
A three-year jail sentence was suspended. Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet Davitt requested a six-month jail term during sentencing, while the attorney for the defense, Barry Coburn, argued successfully that imposing jail time on a 30-plus year police officer with no prior criminal record for what amounted to a traffic case would be excessive.
The jury, drawn from a pool of predominantly white Worcester County residents, was narrowed to eight men and four women, with only one member, a female, of obvious African-American descent.
The facts of the incident were never disputed. Close to midnight on Nov. 21, 2014 Doug Matthews, a guard at Eastern Correctional Institute at the time, was returning home from the Masonic Lodge in Pocomoke City. As he was making the drive, which was only a matter of blocks, his car struck two others but he continued to his residence, about another three blocks, before the car stopped functioning.
Matthews was not questioned by either party about what had happened in his home. He testified he fell asleep at the wheel, and was as shocked as anyone when he exited the vehicle to find the wheel missing, after making two turns to complete his journey home.
Former Pocomoke City Police Officer Tonya Barnes said the chief told her to write the incident up as an accident, not a hit and run, because the damaged vehicles were unoccupied at the time of the crash, no one was injured and Matthews reported the crash to the police, in the form of Green.
Barnes, an officer with seven years experience in Baltimore City but still a new hire on probation in Pocomoke City, said she felt compelled to write the report that way though it was against her better judgment. She testified she felt she was obeying an order from her supervisor in writing the report in that fashion.
Barnes continued her service in the Pocomoke City Police Department for another year before leaving. She is currently an officer at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
Barnes’ report was approved by Green.
Matthews was not charged with any crimes, nor was he issued a single ticket related to the incident.
Green was charged similarly to Sewell, and is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 19.
No date has been set for the discrimination case.