Dale R. Cathell

This case involves a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by Robin Grove, an at-will state employee, against Governor Robert Ehrlich after Grove's removal as Director of the Maryland Department of the Environment’s Technical and Regulatory Administration. The dispute centers on discovery requests seeking personnel records and transition team documents, which the Governor resisted on grounds of executive privilege, attorney-client privilege, and work product doctrine. The Court of Appeals held that an interlocutory appeal was proper under the collateral order doctrine and ruled that the Circuit Court abused its discretion by ordering expanded in camera review of privileged documents and by soliciting third-party consent for the release of documents it had already deemed irrelevant. The court reasoned that waiver principles from cases like Parler & Wobber do not apply because the Governor is a defendant not asserting claims based on privileged information, and the procedures from Blades v. Woods were misapplied. The matter was remanded for further proceedings consistent with these holdings.

labor & employmentprocedure

The case involved a dispute between Caroline County and contractor J. Roland Dashiell & Sons over extra costs, delays, and withheld liquidated damages arising from a 1994 contract to renovate and expand the county detention center. After contract and quantum meruit claims were dismissed for failure to follow contractual notice provisions, the contractor pursued a quasi-contractual unjust enrichment claim. The court decided that the express written contract barred the unjust enrichment claim and that the contractor's affidavit was inadequate. The core reasoning was that unjust enrichment remedies are unavailable when an express agreement between the parties covers the identical subject matter, as consistently held in precedents from Maryland and other jurisdictions.

business & regulatoryprocedure