A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Howard County Circuit Court by three former top chiefs in the county’s public school system accuses school board members of discrimination, retaliation and harassment for political opinions, and in two cases, for sexual orientation. Joseph Greenwald & Laake principal Jay Holland represents the three officials: Tim Thornburg, former director of staff relations; Grace Chesney, former chief accountability officer; and John White, former director of communications. Holland spoke to Tim Prudente at The Baltimore Sun regarding the case.]
“We look forward to seeing this matter through and vindicating their rights and the harm that they suffered,” Holland told The Sun.
The three chiefs allege that the school board sought to drive out Foose, who resigned as superintendent in May 2017, and then targeted her chiefs with “discriminatory, hostile, harassing and abusive behavior.” Following her resignation, Thornburg resigned under extreme pressure, and both Chesney and White were laid off. The lawsuit comes in the wake of an 11-month investigation of the school board by the Howard County Office of Human Rights, led by investigator Cheryl Brower. Three reports of about 100 pages each state that there is reasonable cause to believe that the school board discriminated against Thornburg, Chesney and White.
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Jay Holland is a principal in JGL’s Civil Litigation Group, and the chair of the firm’s Labor, Employment and Qui Tam Whistleblower practice. He is a renowned employment and qui tam litigator known for taking on tough cases and achieving exceptional results.
