June 07, 2009|By John-John Williams IV | John-John Williams IV,john-john.williams@baltsun.com
The attorney for a Howard County teacher who won a racial discrimination lawsuit against the school system two years ago has filed a motion to have herself removed from a current lawsuit, claiming that her client's actions have "blindsided her."
The motion filed May 22 by Dawn Martin, a lawyer based in Washington, to have herself removed as Michelle Maupin's attorney has been granted. Maupin agrees that she needs new representation. "She was doing more to help the defense than she was to help me," Maupin said. "There needed to be a parting of the ways."
Maupin, 40, an English teacher at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, has been on paid administrative leave since September, when she said the principal, an assistant principal and a police officer came to her classroom and ordered her to leave the campus.
Maupin, who is black, initially said she was placed on leave because of a new $1 million suit that says she has received several reprimands, including one after she told administrators that a fellow teacher used a racial slur in front of students.
In July 2007, a jury awarded Maupin $237,000 in compensatory and punitive damages for racial discrimination she suffered while teaching at Centennial High in Ellicott City.
Martin, who did not represent Maupin in the first lawsuit, requested to be removed from the current case due to "irreconcilable differences which literally make continued representation impossible," she wrote in the motion.
"It is impossible for the undersigned to take depositions or otherwise continue this litigation in a manner that she believes is legally and strategically sound without directly violating the express instructions of the client," Martin wrote. "The undersigned could also be personally sanctioned for discovery violations, if she followed Ms. Maupin's instructions."
Martin did not return repeated phone calls for comment.
Maupin's case has been suspended for six weeks to allow her to find another attorney and to give the new attorney an opportunity to research the case.
"I am not willing to walk away from this case," Maupin said.
In court documents, Martin writes that Maupin claims the school system's placement of her on administrative leave is not an issue in the current lawsuit. Martin also says Maupin has pursued action with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that is at odds with what she claims in the current lawsuit. As a result, Martin says, Maupin has hampered her work by not providing necessary documents to her and to attorneys representing the school system.
Martin also says in the court papers that there are additional reasons why she must withdraw herself from the case that are protected by attorney-client privilege.
The amount of time and resources devoted to the Maupin case has jeopardized her other cases and her law practice, Martin added.
Maupin says that Martin did not contact witnesses vital to her retaliation case against the school system and did not communicate with her on several issues vital to the case.
"The Plaintiff would like to walk into a hearing, deposition, or settle conference and feel that she is not the only person on her side in this matter," Maupin wrote in court documents responding to Martin's claims.
"I knew that she needed to be off the case," Maupin said.
Maupin said she still plans to teach in the future.
"I enjoy teaching," Maupin said. "It is what I've always wanted to do. I would love to teach. But this kind of makes it difficult. I don't know who to trust in the school system."
