State Commission on Human Relations v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 142

Citation371 A.2d 645,280 Md. 35
Decision Date30 March 1977
Docket NumberNo. 142,142
Parties, 14 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 7723 STATE of Maryland COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS v. MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE et al.
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland

Risselle Rosenthal Fleisher, Acting Gen. Counsel, Baltimore (Jacob J. Edelman, Baltimore, on the brief), for appellant.

Elise Jude Mason, Asst. City Sol. (Benjamin L. Brown, City Sol. and Ambrose T. Hartman, Deputy City Sol., Baltimore, on the brief), for appellees.

Argued before MURPHY, C. J., and SINGLEY, SMITH, DIGGES, LEVINE, ELDRIDGE and ORTH, JJ.

LEVINE, Judge.

The question presented in this case is whether the State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations (the commission) possesses statutory authority to investigate discriminatory employment practices allegedly committed by official agencies of the City of Baltimore (the city). The Circuit Court of Baltimore City (Cole, J.) held that it does not. An appeal to the Court of Special Appeals followed, but we granted certiorari before the case was heard by that court. We reverse.

This appeal stems from two complaints filed with the commission. The first charged the Baltimore City Department of Finance with racial discrimination in the discharge of one of its employees, and the other charged the Baltimore City jail with similar discrimination in the suspension of one of its employees. In both instances identical complaints were also filed with the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but were referred to the commission pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(c) (Supp. V 1975). When the two city agencies each refused to comply with investigatory subpoenas requiring production of certain employment records, the commission petitioned the circuit court, pursuant to Maryland Code (1957, 1972 Repl.Vol.) Art. 49B, § 14(d), for an order requiring compliance. The city responded with a motion raising preliminary objections in which it challenged the authority of the commission to investigate complaints of alleged discrimination against the city. The circuit court ruled after extended argument that the commission lacked statutory authority to investigate employment practices of the political subdivisions of this state, and entered an order dismissing the enforcement action. It rested this decision on the ground that political subdivisions had not been expressly included within the statutory definition of an 'employer.'

Legislation banning discriminatory employment practices was initially introduced to Maryland in 1965. At the legislative session that year, the General Assembly enacted Chapter 717, which added to Art. 49B several new sections under the subtitle 'Discrimination in Employment.' The declaration of policy, which now appears in § 17 of Art. 49B, in relevant part states:

'It is hereby declared to be the policy of the State of Maryland, in the exercise of its police power . . . to assure all persons equal opportunity in receiving employment . . . regardless of race, color, religion, ancestry or national origin, sex, age, marital status, or physical or mental handicap . . ., and to that end to prohibit discrimination in employment by any person, group, labor organization, organization or any employer or his agents.'

Section 18 of Art. 49B contains certain definitions applicable to the subtitle, the construction of which is determinative of the outcome here. Subsection a defines a 'person' to include 'one or more individuals, labor unions, partnerships associations, corporations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, (or) unincorporated organizations . . .(.)' (emphasis added). Subsection b, in pertinent part, defines an 'employer' as 'a person engaged in an industry or business . . ..' It also expressly includes 'the State of Maryland to the extent as may be provided (elsewhere in Art. 49B).' 1

In urging reversal, the commission argues initially that the broad statement of policy in the statute reflects a legislative intent to eliminate discriminatory employment practices committed by all employers in the state, and that this purpose is reinforced by the statutory definitions of 'person' and 'employer,' since they do not specifically exclude political subdivisions as a class of employers covered by the fair employment practices legislation. In effect, the commission urges, by not excepting Baltimore City and the other political subdivisions of this state from the broad sweep of the declaration of policy, the General Assembly impliedly included them. There is, however, a fatal flaw in this contention.

Even if we assume for the sake of argument, as the commission states, 'that implication may be used to effectuate the broad, stated purpose of the statute,' see Huffman v. State Roads Commn., 152 Md. 566, 584, 137 A. 358, (1927), this proposition overlooks the definition of the term 'person' as used in the statute. In short, if a political subdivision is to be deemed an employer solely in terms of subsections a and b, it must meet the definition of a 'person' set forth in § 18(a). And to do so, it must necessarily be regarded as a 'corporation,' since none of the other categories enumerated therein is remotely applicable.

The City of Baltimore, however, is neither a corporation nor a person within the meaning of § 18(a). The state and its creatures, which include political subdivisions such as Baltimore City, generally are not included within the class meant by the words person, corporation or body corporate in a statute, although they may be included where such an intention is manifest. Harden v. Mass Transit Adm., 277 Md. 399, 408-409, 354 A.2d 817 (1976), aff'g 27 Md.App. 590, 342 A.2d 310 (1975); M. & C. C. v. Balto. Gas Co., 232 Md. 123, 135-36, 192 A.2d 87 (1963); Phillips v. Baltimore City, 110 Md. 431, 437-40, 72 A. 902 (1909). Since no such intention is manifest here, the general rule applies. That the General Assembly did not regard the state as being a corporation within the definition of § 18(a) is apparent from the fact that in 1969 it thought an amendment to § 18(b) was necessary for the very purpose of expressly including the state as an employer. It follows, therefore, that neither could the General Assembly have regarded political subdivisions of the state as corporations within the meaning of § 18(a).

Wholly apart from the Legislature's understanding of the definition found in § 18(a) is the interpretation placed upon it by the commission itself. In its Annual Report of January 1970, at 19, the commission stated flatly that the law was then applicable to 'private employers with 25 or more employees.' (Emphasis added). One year later, in its January 1971 Annual Report at 23, it outlined this legislative proposal:

'Coverage should be extended to include departments and agencies of State and local governments, to insure that they be treated under the statute in the same manner as private employers. Under current provisions, enforcement powers are lodged with the Commission on Human Relations only with respect to private employers; Commission findings of discriminatory practices in State agencies must be submitted to the Governor for any action he deems appropriate.' (Emphasis added).

It is apparent, then, that if Baltimore City was in 1971 a 'person' or 'corporation' within the meaning of § 18(a), neither the General Assembly nor the commission was aware of it.

Within the framework of an analysis limited strictly to § 18(a) and (b), therefore, the trial court was correct in observing that no provision, express or implied, had been made for inclusion of political subdivisions as employers. Where the court fell into error, however, was in ending its inquiry at that point and in not taking into account the action of the General Assembly at its 1973 session.

Section 18(a) of Art. 49B tracks verbatim the language of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(a) (1970), as it stood prior to 1972. In that year, the Congress enacted the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, which, in relevant part, amended § 2000e(a) by expanding the definition of 'person' to include 'governments, governmental agencies, (and) political subdivisions.' 42 U.S.C. § 2000e(a) (Supp. V 1975). In addition, Congress amended § 2000e(b) by defining 'employer' as one employing 'fifteen or more employees' rather than 'twenty-five or more,' and by deleting the previously existing exclusion from coverage for 'a State or political subdivision thereof.' The result, of course, was to make the federal law applicable to the states and their political subdivisions.

At its 1973 session, the General Assembly enacted Chapter 493, which repealed and reenacted §§ 18, 19 and 20 of Art. 49B. Other than to re-define an 'employer' as one having fifteen or more employees, rather than twenty-five, §§ 18(a) and (b) were left intact. Among the new additions to § 18, however, was § 18(e), which is virtually identical to the 1972 amendment of its federal counterpart, § 2000e(f). 2 Section 18(e) provides:

'The term 'employee' means an individual employed by an employer, except that 'employee' does not include any person elected to public office or any person chosen by the officer to be on the officer's personnel staff, or an appointee in the policy making level or an immediate advisor with respect to the exercise of the constitutional or legal powers of the office. The exception set forth in the preceding sentence does not include employees subject to the State or local civil service laws.' (Emphasis added).

It is the 1973 enactment, particularly § 18(e), which the trial court did not address, but which requires judicial construction here. In this Court, the city conceded at oral argument, correctly in our view, that the definition of employee in § 18(e) has the effect of creating an ambiguity in § 18 as a whole. Faced with this ambiguity in the statute itself, we look elsewhere to ascertain the intention of the...

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