Sheriff’s office loses hiring suit

Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006

Pernevlyn C. Coggins was awarded $19,158.50 in back pay and $75,000 in emotional damages by the U.S. District Court of Maryland in Greenbelt after a jury deliberated for less than an hour and a half.

‘‘She has gotten her day in court,” Coggins’ attorney, Jonathan Puth, said after the verdict was delivered Friday. ‘‘She believed in the system, and it really came through for her.”

Gary May, lead counsel for the sheriff’s office, said Tuesday, ‘‘Certainly we are disappointed. We still maintain the reasons for not hiring Ms. Coggins were not based on race and gender.”

May said the sheriff’s office had never before been sued for discrimination in hiring.

Regarding the chances for an appeal, May said, ‘‘We haven’t considered any post-trial motion. It’s unlikely we would appeal.”

Puth said the three-day trial, which began Dec. 5, focused on the application by Coggins, who is African-American, for a systems administrator position at the sheriff’s office and her relative qualifications compared with the white male eventually hired by the agency.

Coggins’ case stemmed from an incident that began in November 2002, when the sheriff’s office advertised the position.

According to court documents, the sheriff’s office hired a 19-year-old Caucasian male with no experience for the position instead of Coggins, who was 41 at the time and said that she was more qualified.

Coggins submitted an application for the position after learning of the vacancy from Eric Halvorsen, manager of management and information systems at the sheriff’s office and a member of her church, according to Coggins’ complaint.

After interviewing for the job with several other candidates, Coggins said she was notified by the sheriff’s office that she was one of two remaining candidates for the position, and the sheriff’s office required a background investigation to continue the hiring process.

Halvorsen told Coggins at church that ‘‘she had impressed the hiring panel,” and his wife said she ‘‘was everyone’s number one choice,” according to Coggins’ complaint.

Coggins completed the personal history statement and submitted it in person on Dec. 27, 2002, according to court documents.

It was during this interaction that the sheriff’s office’s human resources coordinator said Coggins complained about the salary offered for the position and the amount of paperwork she was required to fill out, according to court documents.

The documents also describe several confrontations between Coggins and members of the sheriff’s office, which Coggins denied.

‘‘[Coggins] was everyone’s choice, but the administration rejected her because they claimed that she was uncooperative,” Puth said. ‘‘The jury really didn’t buy it for a second.”

Puth said Coggins only asked what the salary was, if it was negotiable and if she could have a few copies made of her personal documents. ‘‘What was quite clear to the jury was that these were normal questions for an applicant to ask.”

Coggins’ complaint shows that she had previously worked as a systems administrator and had more than a decade of experience.

‘‘The man they hired was a 19-year-old white male who worked as an intern for the board of education,” Puth said. ‘‘He graduated with an associate’s degree from the College of Southern Maryland. Mrs. Coggins had taught the same classes he had taken.”