THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 9, 1995 TAG: 9507090185
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
A former prosecutor has filed a federal complaint against Portsmouth Commonwealth's Attorney Martin Bullock, alleging that she was fired after raising charges of reverse discrimination.
But, Bullock countered, ``My office is representative of the city of Portsmouth. Because my office is a reflection of society, obviously some people can't deal with that.''
Kathleen A. Maynard, a white assistant commonwealth's attorney who was fired June 30, filed the complaint Monday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Norfolk. The complaint alleges that Bullock, who is black, fired her in retaliation for concerns she raised about her perceptions of unequal treatment of blacks and whites in his office.
Bullock's office apparently is the only commonwealth's attorney's office in Virginia with a predominantly black staff. There are seven black and five white prosecuting attorneys in Portsmouth.
Maynard, 30, who now works as a public defender in Franklin, wrote in her complaint, ``I believe I have been discriminated against in discharge in retaliation for having voiced concerns regarding disparate treatment due to race, in violation of . . . Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. . .
The Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race.
Maynard said she also wrote a six-page affadavit giving details of what prompted her complaint. A copy of the affadavit could not be obtained.
In an interview, Maynard alleged that Bullock gave certain black attorneys in his office high-profile cases. She also charged that white attorneys are given heavier caseloads than black attorneys.
``Martin assigns the cases; for the high-profile cases, he's the one who picks which attorney gets them,'' Maynard said.
An examination of Circuit Court felony caseloads for the three months ending in May showed that four attorneys - three who are white - handled more than 100 cases each:
Ron Reel, who is white, had the most cases - 177.
Rufus Banks, who is black, handled 125 cases.
David Dayton, who is white, had 123 cases.
Maynard handled 109 cases, fourth highest in the office.
Maynard also had the third highest caseload in General District Court during April and May with 39. The prosecutor with the highest caseload during that time was Banks, who had 67 cases.
``I pick according to who's best qualified to deal with (a specific) case,'' Bullock said. ``I think my record speaks for itself.''
He said that while he reviews all felony cases, he personally assigns about 5 percent of the cases, typically the high-profile ones. But 95 percent of all case assignments are made by the office's four team leaders - two white attorneys and two black attorneys.
Maynard's team leader was a white male, Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Reel.
During several meetings with Bullock, Maynard said, she expressed her views concerning what she perceived as racial preferences in the office.
Maynard said the problems began after she made a remark to a secretary that Bullock appeared to be hiring more whites, after two white interns began working at the office. Two black interns also work at the office.
``I am not saying that I have been discriminated against,'' Maynard said. ``I'm saying that I saw on a day-to-day basis that there was disparate treatment based on your race.
``He's had absolutely no problem with my work,'' she said. ``The fact of the matter is he's mad that I expressed my opinions, and last that I knew, we had a right to express our opinions.''
Bullock refused to disclose why Maynard was fired, saying it was a ``personnel matter.''
However, Bullock did say that Maynard was slated for a promotion in July to prosecute drug cases under a new grant program and had received a ``significant'' raise in March that was retroactive to January. She was also scheduled to receive another pay increase, effective July 1.
``In January 1995, I went to City Council to fight for a raise for Ms. Maynard along with a couple of other people,'' he said. ``She was slated to get raises at a pace faster than anybody else in the office.''
Bullock said he also sent her to the state's rigorous ``Top Gun'' training program for prosecutors in May.
``When you talk about preferential treatment, I don't see how she can say she was not treated well,'' Bullock said.
But Maynard said she suspects that Bullock's decision to fire her may have been prompted by statements she reportedly made outside his office.
``Whatever I may have talked to other people about, it's what Martin said to me,'' Maynard said. ``I don't like acting on rumor and speculation . . . but I felt like that's exactly what's been done to me.''
According to a new EEOC initiative, the agency no longer automatically investigates every complaint it receives. An investigator reviews a complaint to determine if it warrants an investigation. Once the investigation is completed and the agency determines that discrimination occurred, it can seek back pay, reinstatement and other remedies on behalf of the complainant.
All the commonwealth's attorney's offices in Hampton Roads except Portsmouth's are predominantly white.
Chesapeake has 12 prosecutors, one black. Virginia Beach has 22 prosecutors, including one black and one Iranian-American. Suffolk has two black prosecutors out of a total of seven attorneys. Newport News, which also has a black commonwealth's attorney, has 17 lawyers, including seven blacks.
Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Charles D. Griffith Jr. refused to disclose the number of minority prosecutors on his staff. His office is predominantly white.
KEYWORDS: RACIAL DISCRIMINATION REVERSE DISCRIMINATION by CNB