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| Detention Center Director Sues Ex-Worker |
| By The Delmarva Daily Times |
| Published: 10/24/2005 |
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Claiming his character has been defamed by malicious public accusations, the Wicomico County Detention Center Director Douglas Devenyns is suing a terminated Maryland worker who last year sued the director over the job discharge. In a letter earlier this year to Maryland Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, Robert L. Burkett allegedly referred to his former boss as the "John Gotti of lawsuits" and a "racist" who fires or demotes "anyone who disagrees with him," according to a civil lawsuit filed by Devenyns in Wicomico County Circuit Court. Soon after, in a talk with Somerset County Detention Center Warden James Henderson, Burkett called Devenyns "a thieving racist" for whom he intended "to make things as miserable as he could," court documents also state. Those and other alleged remarks by Burkett are false and have hurt the director's personal and professional reputation, and Devenyns -- alleging two defamation-related counts -- seeks $100,000 in compensatory damages, according to court documents filed in late September. Devenyns also claims the defendant circulated defamatory correspondence among wardens at other public safety institutions with "reckless disregard for the truth and with the intent to harm (the director's) employment." Burkett filed a civil lawsuit against Devenyns in late 2004, claiming his termination from a contractual job at the jail was in violation of an employment contract. Between August 2002 and July 2004, Burkett headed a county jail inmate project called the Prophecy Program. The Salisbury resident claims, among other things, that Devenyns clipped a 12-month work agreement by eight months, and seeks $450,000 in punitive damages for two counts of breach of employment or contract; failure to pay wages for a two-year period; and two counts of federal constitutional violations. Last week, Burkett called Devenyns' lawsuit "another attempt to ruin me financially." Burkett's lawyer, Salisbury attorney Sherwood Wescott, has said his client's case will likely be heard by a federal court judge in February or March 2006. Kevin Karpinski, Devenyns' Baltimore attorney, could not be reached to comment on whether the director's status as a county employee would force his client's case into federal court. Reached Thursday, Devenyns said his lawsuit, the first he has filed against a former employee, is justified. "It is a unique situation, the first I have ever encountered," he said. "There has to be limits to such things -- my integrity and reputation are important." |
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