All employers do their best to provide a safe work environment for their employees. For some, this means keeping employees who have physical jobs safe from injuries. For others, this means maintaining a culture of transparency where employees can feel comfortable reporting problems to management. Sometimes, however, employees’ actions become disruptive and problematic.
Consider the case of a former Anne Arundel employee. The Annapolis woman worked in the Office of the Register of Wills. During her time there, she filed two complaints against the register of wills.
First, she filed a whistleblower complaint, alleging that the register of wills had violated several laws regarding election and campaigning and procurement. She also accused the woman of unethical behavior, abuse of authority and misconduct. After that complaint, the employee then accused the register of wills of discrimination based on race.
After the woman was placed on administrative leave for several days, she was fired.
Now, the terminated employee is suing Anne Arundel County, the state of Maryland, the state comptroller and the register of wills for wrongful termination. She claims that she was unlawfully fired for filing claims against her employer. She also alleges that her employer never notified her of her right to appeal.
It will be interesting to watch this case because Maryland employment law says that employees of executive branches of the government are protected from retaliation over whistle-blowing. However, the Office of the Register of Wills is part of the judicial branch of government, according to its website. Although the woman says that her employer told her she was working for the executive branch, that may not be enough to support her claim.
Source: Capital Gazette, “Former Anne Arundel register of wills employee alleges wrongful termination,” Tim Pratt