Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary : Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Phillip W. Thomas Law Firm : MS Litigation Review & Commentary

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Last week the Clarion-Ledger reported on a $205,506 federal court jury verdict for Melissa Ross, who alleged that she was wrongfully fired from the Mississippi School for the Deaf because she is black. The jury awarded Ross $40,506 for back pay and $165,000 for pain and suffering/ mental anguish/ loss of enjoyment of life/ emotional pain. Here is the Form of the Verdict on file with the Court.

 The C-L article states:

According to the lawsuit, Ross was hired at the deaf school as a special education teacher for Family Consumer Science. She was not proficient in sign language but was trying to improve, according to the lawsuit.

In a 2007 complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Ross said she was hired in August 2006 and was promoted with a raise in February 2007. But in May 2007, she was given a bad evaluation because she was not proficient in sign language and was told she would be fired that July, according to the complaint.

In the complaint, Ross pointed out six black teachers were fired effective July 2007.

The Department of Education was successful in getting some of the claims thrown out in a motion for partial summary judgment. Here is the Court’s Order on that motion.

Michael Brown of Jackson represented the plaintiff. Peter Cleveland with the Miss. Attorney General’s office represented the Department of Education.

The case was in the Jackson Division and was tried before Judge Henry Wingate.

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Last Monday I reported that Keith Ball has been selected as the new Magistrate Judge for the Southern District. I had heard the news the previous Friday from someone who was not on the Magistrate Selection Panel.

Then last Wednesday I heard that one of the Southern District Judges was telling lawyers that no announcement had been made on the selection yet. 

But the Clarion-Ledger reported this morning that Judge Wingate confirmed that Keith Ball is the choice:

 U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate, chief judge for the Southern District, on Monday confirmed Ball's selection.

On another note, I saw a comment on another blog that Judge Winston Kidd's name has been submitted for the vacant 5th Circuit Court of Appeals seat. I'm not sure what the person meant by "submitted", but I do not believe it to be true unless he meant that Judge Kidd was one of many potential candidates submitted to the White House for consideration. 

It's my understanding that the White House is still in the vetting process and has not decided on a nominee.  The slow pace of President Obama filling judicial vacancies continues to receive national attention. The White House attorneys in charge of the selection and vetting process are leaving their posts soon, which threatens to further slow the process.

Every so often I am asked my opinion of what it might mean that there has been no announcement for the vacant Southern District Court or 5th Circuit positions. I do not believe that much should be read into it. The White House is just slow in this area. I would not read anything else into it until most of the other open slots around the country are filled with ours still open.

There could be announcements soon, or not for a long time. I don't think anyone really knows which it will be.

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On August 14 Judge Wingate entered an Order Appointing Merit Selection Panel for the Magistrate Judge position that is open as a result of Judge Sumner retiring. Here is the Order. the Chairman of the Panel is Maison Heidelberg of Ridgeland. Other lawyer members of the panel are Amy Ryan- Woodville; Robert Latham- Natchez; Robert Allen- Brookhaven; Skipper Samson- Gulfport; Michael McWilliams- Jackson; Doug Minor- Jackson; Steve Montagnet- Ridgeland; James Heidelberg- Pascagoula; Paul Franke- Gulfport; Bill Liston III- Jackson; Rob McDuff- North Congress St.,  Jackson; and Latoya Merritt; Jackson. The panel included two non-lawyer: Dr. William Ashford (Jackson opthamologist); and Katie McCarstle- Natchez. It's my understanding that all the Southern District judges had input on the panel subject to approval by Judge Wingate.

It is generally expected among the bar that there will be hundreds of applicants for the position. I do not recall the exact number that I heard applied for the seat that Judge Parker filled, but it was over a hundred. The federal magistrate seat pays more than state court judge positions and many people expect a lot of state court judges to apply. The Order states that the panel is "to assist the court in identifying and recommending the applicants who are best qualified to fill said position." My understanding of the process is that the panel narrows the field to five finalists with the Southern District Judges making the final decision.