Prince George's County v. Beretta U.S.A. Corp.3/9/2000
This case presents important questions concerning a charter county's authority to enact a statute which provides that a county administrative agency, upon a finding of employment discrimination, may, in addition to other relief, award money damages "for humiliation and embarrassment" up to $100,000.00. Unfortunately, we shall not be able to reach those issues because the judgment of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County in this case was not appealable.
I.
Sections 2-185 through 2-231.01 of the Prince George's County Code (1995, 1998 Supp.) prohibit various types of discrimination in Prince George's County, including discrimination in employment. Those sections establish and provide for a Human Relations Commission to enforce the anti-discrimination laws, state that the Commission shall have 13 members, authorize the Commission, inter alia, to have hearing panels consisting of three members which render the initial decisions, and provide that final decisions of the Commission concluding that a respondent has engaged in prohibited discrimination must be supported "by a majority vote of the full Commission" (§ 2-195(a)).
The Prince George's County Human Relations Commission is authorized to order various types of relief upon a finding of prohibited discrimination, including "cease and desist" orders (§ 2-195(a)), the award of back pay in employment discrimination cases (§ 2-195(b)), "reimbursement of actual expenses to the complainant" (ibid.), damages for injury to the complainant's personal property (§ 2-195.01(a)(1)), and compensation for travel expenses incurred by the complainant (§ 2-195.01(a)(2)). Furthermore, § 2-195.01(a)(3) of the Prince George's County Code states as follows:
"(3) Damages may also be awarded to compensate complainant for humiliation and embarrassment suffered in an amount determined by the Commission panel to be appropriately and reasonably warranted considering all of the circumstances, but in no event shall the amount be in excess of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00)."
In addition, § 2-195.01(b), which was enacted in 1998 after the commencement of the case at bar, provides:
"(b) In addition to other awards and relief set forth above, the Commission may impose a civil fine up to Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000), in accordance with the standards of proof set forth in Section 2- 195 [involving cease and desist orders], on a respondent found to have violated the provisions of Subdivisions 6 [discrimination in places of public accommodations] and 7 [discrimination in employment]."
Finally, § 2-197(c) of the Prince George's County Code provides that " ny party aggrieved by a final decision by the Commission is entitled to file an appeal pursuant to Subtitle B of the Maryland Rules of Procedure." Former Subtitle B of the Maryland Rules of Procedure related to judicial review by the circuit courts of adjudicatory administrative decisions, and referred to such actions in the circuit court as "appeals." In 1993, former Subtitle B was replaced by Rules 7-201 through 7-209 which properly referred to such actions in a circuit court as "actions for judicial review" (Rule 7-201(a)). For discussions of the rules changes, and the nature of these actions, see Kim v. Comptroller, 350 Md. 527, 534-536, 714 A.2d 176, 179-180 (1998); Driggs Corp. v. Md. Aviation, 348 Md. 389, 398-399, 704 A.2d 433, 438-439 (1998); Colao v. County Council, 346 Md. 342, 359-363, 697 A.2d 96, 104-106 (1997); Gisriel v. Ocean City Elections Board, 345 Md. 477, 490-496, 693 A.2d 757, 764-767 (1997), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1053, 118 S.Ct. 702, 139 L.Ed.2d 645 (1998).
Neither § 2-197(c) nor any other provision of
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