4th Circuit Finds for McGuireWoods Over Alleged Retaliation and Discrimination

A federal appeals court on Thursday affirmed a jury's verdict in favor of McGuireWoods and a McGuireWoods partner in Baltimore in a suit filed by a legal secretary alleging retaliation and defamation.

The suit, filed in October 2006 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, alleged the firm and a partner, Joseph Tirone, retaliated against Nancy Adair, who sought time off under the Family Medical Leave Act. A jury in 2007 sided with the defendants. Click here for a copy of Adair's complaint. A copy of McGuireWoods' memo in support of a motion to dismiss is here.

In a three-page unpublished per curiam opinion Thursday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found the evidence "supports the jury's finding that McGuireWoods did not interfere with Adair's right to seek leave under the FMLA, nor was she terminated for having sought protection under the FMLA." The court ruled on the briefs.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202432849391&rss=newswire


Judges on the panel:

Wilkinson, James Harvie III - Nominated by Ronald Reagan on January 30, 1984.
Michael, M. Blane - Nominated by William J. Clinton on August 6, 1993.
Agee, G. Steven - Nominated by George W. Bush on March 13, 2008.


Court ruling:

http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/081078.U.pdf