Opinion ID: 2558572
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Respondent's Bar Membership and Employment by OHR

Text: 1. Respondent was admitted to practice law in Texas in 1984, in Maryland in 1997, and in the District of Columbia on July 9, 1999. Tr. at 1028. In approximately December 2000, the Director of the D.C. Office of Human Rights, Charles Holman, hired Respondent to head the investigative unit of OHR. Tr. at 48-49, 246. 2. At that time, OHR used a number of outside contractors to assist in the workload of the office, including the preparation of Letters of Determination (LODs) setting forth the results of OHR's investigation of complaints. Tr. at 50, 67. Respondent, until July 2001, was responsible for ensuring that OHR files were complete before they were sent to contractors to prepare LODs. Tr. at 93-94, 605-06, 704-05. 3. From approximately December 2000 to early May 2001, Respondent also assisted Mr. Holman with the contracting functions of OHR. Tr. at 49, 51, 66; BX 9 at 30. 4. Mr. Holman relieved Respondent of all her supervisory and contracting duties by July 2001 because of her deficient performance and was taking steps at that time to fire her. Mr. Holman's successor fired Respondent in January 2003, for cause. Tr. at 1059-60; BX 33 at 4-7. 5. In early 2001, Curtis Lewis and Associates (CLA), a minority-owned law firm in the District, solicited OHR for the opportunity to prepare LODs. In February 2001, Mr. Holman directed Respondent to provide CLA three files for the preparation of LODs, which would allow OHR to evaluate CLA's work product. Tr. at 90-94; BX 16 at 37-60. 6. In March 2001, after CLA had drafted and returned the initial LODs, Mr. Holman discussed with Respondent the contracting needs of OHR and whether they should use CLA to prepare additional LODs. Tr. at 95-97, 170-71, 203-05, 237, 241. Respondent did not raise any concerns or reservations about CLA or their work product, with the possible exception that CLA had not followed the Harvard Bluebook system of citations. Respondent recommended to Mr. Holman that OHR contract with CLA to prepare LODs. Tr. at 95-99, 101-02, 104-05, 170-71, 205-08, 233, 238-41, 586. While considering whether to contract with CLA, Mr. Holman asked Respondent to identify 50 cases that OHR could send or outsource to CLA. BX 9 at 24. 7. On March 26, 2001, Mr. Holman sent Respondent an e-mail requesting her to prepare a short memo explaining why Curtis Lewis should be given a contract for the LODs in light of the LODs you have received back from them in comparison to those done by the Training Center and others. BX 5; Tr. at 95. 8. By memo dated March 27, 2001, Respondent responded [24] to Mr. Holman as follows: In comparison to the other contractors that this office has dealt with, I believe that Curtis Lewis & Associates is deserving of an above average rating. One of their strong points was timeliness since the firm meet [sic] the deadlines on all the cases. Another big plus for this firm is their commitment to make any and all necessary modifications, corrections, etc. I also believe that the firm is well staffed to meet our future needs. BX 6A; Tr. at 96-97. Mr. Holman included Respondent's memo recommending CLA in the office file maintained for contractors. Tr. at 108, 615-16, 625. 9. Based on Respondent's recommendation, Mr. Holman awarded a sole-source contract to CLA to prepare 32 additional LODs, with instructions that CLA be given no more than five files at a time. Tr. at 98-99, 170-71, 207-08, 233; see also Tr. at 721. 10. After receiving the contract to prepare 32 additional LODs, CLA sought an even larger contract. On May 9, 2001, Mr. Holman sent a memo to Terence Coles, the Assistant to the Mayor's Chief of Staff, describing OHR's dealings with CLA. BX 53. Mr. Holman quoted verbatim the entire text of Respondent's memo of March 27, 2001 (BX 6A), in which she recommended CLA over other contractors. BX 53 at 2; see also RX 12 at 6 n. 13. Mr. Holman stated that while OHR was willing to enter into a larger contract with CLA, it could not do so given the limits on OHR's contracting authority. BX 53 at 3; Tr. at 111-13, 578, 616-17, 624-25. 11. In May 2001, around the time that he wrote to Mr. Coles, Mr. Holman hired Barbara Delaney as his special assistant and assigned her, among other duties, the contracting functions that Respondent had performed. Tr. at 62-63, 66, 595-97, 708-09. In a May 14, 2001 e-mail, Mr. Holman advised Respondent that Ms. Delaney has been assigned to supervise the office's contracting procedures and that she would be supervising Respondent with respect to contracting matters. BX 9 at 30. 12. CLA continued to seek an additional contract from OHR after receiving the contract to draft an additional 32 LODs. BX 21 at 8; Tr. at 630-33. In or around June 2001, Joy Arnold, the Mayor's then Chief of Staff, asked Mr. Holman to attend a meeting in the Mayor's Office to discuss the additional contract. Barbara Bullock, the President of the Washington's Teachers Union, Mr. Coles, and Ms. Delaney also attended the meeting. When Mr. Holman explained that OHR had limited contracting authority, Ms. Bullock demanded that CLA be given the contract, and Ms. Arnold assured her that something would be done. Tr. at 130-31, 631-35, 729-36, 738-39. 13. Neither Mr. Holman nor Ms. Delaney discussed with Respondent this June 2001 meeting at the Mayor's Office concerning CLA. Tr. at 119-20, 635-36. Indeed, Mr. Holman was taking steps to terminate Respondent's employment from OHR no later than June 2001. Tr. at 66, 119. 14. In approximately September or early October 2001, CLA was awarded an additional contract to draft LODs and perform investigations by the Office of Contracting and Procurement on behalf of OHR. Tr. at 113, 120-2, 636-39, 722-23, 736-37, 739; RX 12 at 1. 15. In May 2002, after learning that a former Staff Assistant in the Mayor's Office had been indicted for taking kickbacks from contractors, Mr. Holman advised the Mayor's Office of problems that OHR was having with CLA and noted that the former staffer had been involved in awarding the larger contract to CLA. Mr. Holman had a further meeting with the Mayor's Office to discuss CLA, and shortly thereafter was asked to resign. Tr. at 125-29. Mr. Holman later filed suit, contending he was fired because of his criticism of CLA and raising questions about the former staffer's role in steering the OHR contract to CLA. BX 10 at 2-3.