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Montgomery v. Eastern Correctional Institution11/10/2003
On 9 September 1999, Petitioner, Sheila Montgomery, an administrative assistant in the Warden's Office at the Eastern Correctional Instituition ("the ECI") in Westover, Maryland, filed a personnel grievance against her then supervisor, the Acting Warden, George Kaloroumakis. Approximately two months later, Montgomery was reassigned by the newly appointed Warden, Robert Kupec, to an administrative assistant position, at the same pay and classification, in the ECI's Maintenance Department. Montgomery, a few months after that event, filed a "Whistleblower" complaint with the Secretary of the Maryland Department of Budget and Management ("the Department") that Montgomery contends comes within the ambit of subtitle 3 of section 5 of the State Personnel and Pensions Article of the Maryland Code (1993, 1997 Repl. Vol.), entitled "Maryland Whistleblower Law in the Executive Branch of State Government" ("Whistleblower Law"). In sum, Montgomery there complained that her reassignment was in retaliation for having filed the initial personnel grievance against Kaloroumakis. The Department found no merit in Montgomery's "Whistleblower" complaint. Montgomery then appealed that action to the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings ("OAH").
An administrative law judge ("ALJ") of the OAH, relying on federal precedent interpreting the federal Whistleblower Protection Act ("WPA") upon which the Maryland statute was based, ruled that the information contained in Montgomery's "Whistleblower" complaint "challenging the actions of a supervisor towards an employee is not a protected disclosure" within the meaning of the Maryland Whistleblower Law. The ALJ ruled further that Montgomery's complaint did not allege facts sufficient to show that she had made disclosures that were protected by Maryland's Whistleblower Law.
Montgomery filed a petition for judicial review of the ALJ's decision in the Circuit Court for Somerset County. After a hearing, the judge concluded that Montgomery's complaint about the behavior of her supervisor is not a protected disclosure under Maryland's Whistleblower Law and affirmed the ALJ.
Regarding Montgomery's direct appeal, the Court of Special Appeals, in an unreported opinion, affirmed. We granted Montgomery's petition for writ of certiorari, Montgomery v. Eastern Correctional Institution, 374 Md. 358, 822 A.2d 1224 (2003), to consider the question:
1. Has a State employee who has filed a grievance about the behavior of her supervisor, complaining that he has created a hostile work environment that is detrimental to her career, made a "protected disclosure" under Maryland Code section 5-305 of the Maryland Whistleblower Act, in the State Personnel & Pensions Article?
I.
Sheila Montgomery, prior to 8 November 1999, was for a number of years an administrative aide in the Warden's Office at the ECI. She served as a personnel liaison between the Warden and staff members at the ECI and was responsible for maintaining the Warden's calendar and drafting letters for his signature. In June 1999, Warden Ralph Logan left the ECI and was replaced, on a temporary basis, by Acting Warden George Kaloroumakis. Between June and September 1999, Montgomery served as an administrative aide to Acting Warden Kaloroumakis.
On 9 September 1999, Montgomery filed a grievance with the State Personnel Management System complaining about the Acting Warden's behavior towards her. Under the section of the form asking Montgomery to state her grievance, she wrote: "Ongoing and continuing harassment by the Acting Warden (George Kaloroumakis) which constitutes a hostile work environment or places me in a hostile work environment
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