Woman Claims Racism In Sheriff's Office Hiring
By Dan Morse
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 10, 2006
An eight-member federal court jury awarded $75,000 in damages for emotional distress to a Charles County woman Friday, finding that the Sheriff's Office had passed her over for a computer administrator's job because she is a black woman.
"I feel vindicated. I feel great. I feel wonderful. I feel blessed," plaintiff Pernevlyn C. Coggins said.
Coggins moved to just outside La Plata from North Carolina in 1998, part of an influx of black residents. "Charles County needs to open its arms and welcome people who are moving into the county," Coggins said Friday night.
The jury, in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, took 90 minutes to render its verdict. Jurors also awarded Coggins $19,158.50 in lost pay, determining that sum reflected the amount Coggins lost before acquiring a position with a different employer.
"We are disappointed, of course, in the verdict," said Gary C. May, an attorney for the Sheriff's Office. A decision on whether to appeal could be weeks away.
May said Coggins was not passed over because of her race or sex. He said he could not recall the Sheriff's Office being sued by anyone with similar claims.
May noted that the total amount awarded could have been higher. Coggins's attorney had requested $130,000 in lost pay and an unspecified amount in emotional damages. "I believe the damages were significantly less than what the plaintiff expected," May said.
Coggins acknowledged that she was seeking a bigger amount but said she was pleased with the verdict.
The events leading to the lawsuit began in November 2002, when the Sheriff's Office advertised for a systems administrator. Coggins applied after learning about the vacancy from a Sheriff's Office employee who was a member of her church.
A three-member panel within the Sheriff's Office that interviewed candidates ranked Coggins No. 1, according to court records. From there, sheriff's employees decided to conduct background checks on Coggins and the No. 2 candidate, a white man named Maxym Kuminov, who ultimately was hired. Kuminov, a native of Ukraine, was 19 when he got the job, according to attorneys in the case.
What happened during the background checks was a matter of dispute. Coggins said that as she collected paperwork and submitted it to the Sheriff's Office, she inquired about the salary. Along the way, she was told she would get the job, pending completion of the background work.
But some Sheriff's Office employees said that during this period, Coggins was abrasive and uncooperative, strikingly so for a job applicant. One employee, Betsy Leonhard, recalled in a pretrial statement that a fellow employee, Human Resources Coordinator Julie Shontere, was appalled at Coggins's demeanor.
But Coggins and her attorney successfully argued that she was denied employment because of her race and sex. They showed, among other things, that sheriff's employees "were taken aback by an African American female asking what the salary" was going to be, said Jonathan Puth, her attorney.
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