eNotes: Liability – October 2023 – Maryland

SIGNIFICANT CASE SUMMARIES

Maryland Case Summary

Williams v. Morgan State Univ.
Maryland Supreme Court
Misc. No. 9, September Term, 2023 Md. LEXIS 339

Decided: August 14, 2023

Maryland’s waiver of sovereign immunity for tort actions held not to extended to federal statutory claims.

Background

Plaintiff originally filed a Complaint in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City against her former employer, Morgan State University, and her former supervisor, Dean Wickham alleging wrongful termination and defamation. In an Amended Complaint, Plaintiff added claims alleging retaliation in violation of the National Defense Authorization Act and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Plaintiff claimed that she was terminated for granting requests for interviews from Republican and Green party candidates subsequent to a cancelled debate during the 2016 Baltimore mayoral election, and for voicing concerns to Dean Wickham and other Morgan State University leaders that the University was intentionally inflating expense reports that were then submitted to state and federal agencies to secure larger grants.

Defendants removed the suit to the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, which dismissed the action with prejudice. Plaintiff appealed and the Fourth Circuit vacated the order of the District Court and remanded the case back to the District Court to determine whether Maryland waived sovereign immunity to federal statutory claims under the Maryland Tort Claims Act (“MCTA”). The District Court granted the Defendant’s renewed Motion to dismiss, stating the MTCA did not waive Maryland’s sovereign immunity for this type of claim and Plaintiff again appealed. The Fourth Circuit then certified this question of law to the Maryland Supreme Court.

Holding

The Supreme Court of Maryland held that the MCTA does not waive Maryland’s sovereign immunity for federal statutory claims. The Supreme Court of Maryland construes waivers of Maryland’s sovereign immunity generally in favor of maintaining that immunity, and the language of the MCTA includes no indication that it would apply to federal statutory claims. The Supreme Court of Maryland also stated that the phrase tort action, as used in the MCTA or any other statute, had never been held to apply to Maryland statutory claims and that the existence and degree of liability for statutory claims is determined by the respective statute, rendering the use of a separate statutory tool, like the MCTA, redundant. The Maryland legislature has shown that it will waive sovereign immunity to federal claims, but the MCTA lacks any of the specific language used in those prior statutes.

Questions about this case can be directed to Lucas Duty at (443) 641-0572 or lduty@tthlaw.com.