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REPORTED IN THE COURT OF SPECIAL APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 42 September Term, 1997 _______________________________

ANGELA MURPHY

V.

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MARYLAND

_______________________________ Wenner, Hollander, Salmon, JJ. _______________________________ Opinion by Salmon, J. _______________________________ Filed: November 3, 1997 Angela Murphy ("Murphy"), a Baltimore County police officer, was fired from her job on September 1, 1993, for an "[i]nability

to perform the duties and functions of a Police Officer for medical reasons which cannot be accommodated." After filing two

earlier petitions, Murphy, on August 6, 1996, filed a second amended petition for writ of mandamus requesting, inter alia, that she be reinstated as a Baltimore County police officer and that she be awarded damages for a denial of due process. Appellee, Baltimore County, filed a motion to dismiss that was granted by the Circuit Court for Baltimore County on October 16, 1996. Murphy filed a timely appeal presenting two questions: 1. If a police officer is denied a disability retirement, is the police department precluded from dismissing that officer because she is physically unable to perform her full police duties? Is a police officer denied her property right in continued employment without due process of law when that officer is terminated without a pre-termination hearing or post-termination hearing shortly after her termination?

2.

Our answers to both questions are, "Not necessarily," and for reasons explained below, we shall affirm the judgment of the circuit court.

I.

BACKGROUND FACTS

Most of the facts set forth in Section I are based on histories provided by Murphy to health care providers who examined her and thereafter wrote reports that were filed in the record in this case. Because of the number of reports and the 2

detailed histories that appellant provided, we have attempted only a brief summary -- yet one that will be inclusive enough to understand the legal arguments presented. In February 1988, at age 22, Murphy, an African-American, joined the Baltimore County Police Department. tumultuous years as a police officer. She served five

Murphy claims that she was

permanently mentally disabled due to having been the victim of racism and discriminatory treatment by her police department supervisors, particularly by one supervisor, Sergeant McGee. During a performance evaluation, McGee, according to Murphy, "tackled" her. this attack.1 In addition to this physical attack, Murphy claims that fellow police officers directed racially derogatory remarks at her and she was otherwise systematically harassed. When she She sustained injuries to her arm as a result of

filed complaints about her treatment, she was labeled a "complainer." Murphy was told that there were no problems before

she came to the precinct and that she tried to make everything a "black/white issue." Because of perceived racial tensions, she

became increasingly agitated in 1992 after white Los Angeles police officers, who were accused of wrongfully beating Rodney

King, were acquitted of state criminal charges. Murphy was described by her doctors as "a hostile, angry young woman," who admitted that she had problems dealing with the

An investigation by the police department cleared Sgt. McGee of the charges lodged by Murphy.

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public and following orders.

For instance, Murphy admitted that

she often ignored supervisors if she felt that their demands were "unimportant." She was hostile to and denigrated fellow African-

American police officers by characterizing them as "house niggas." Similarly, she admitted to "cussing out" citizens who In sum,

called the police hotline with "stupid ass questions."

according to reports submitted by Murphy's treating doctors, she had difficulty getting along with either white or AfricanAmerican co-workers due to her mental condition. Murphy "`regrets' that she has not `blown away' [certain] members of the Police Department" and has said that she understands why postal workers have resorted to violence. She

reported to one of her doctors that "she was not entertaining such an idea but could understand how sweet a feeling it would be -- even for just a moment -- to get even." Her greatest regret was

that her nemesis, Sgt. McGee, retired before she could get even with him. According to appellant, her treatment by the police department caused a "mental condition [that] prevented [her]

from performing the tasks required of a police officer, even one filling a light-duty position [like telephone duty]." Murphy's

"mental condition" manifested itself in the form of depression, nervousness, insomnia, and stomach problems that had her "eating Mylanta like candy." She began seeing psychiatrists and was

admitted to the Baltimore County General Hospital with

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pancreatitis, which, according to Murphy, was "related to the high level of stress she was encountering." Hence, on February 6, 1993, Murphy applied to the Baltimore County Employees' Retirement System Board of Trustees for lineof-duty disability retirement benefits, alleging job-related stress injuries. requires that: Upon the application of a member in service or of the employer, any member who has been totally and permanently incapacitated for duty as the natural and proximate result of an accident occurring while in the actual performance of duty at some definite time and place, without willful negligence on his part, shall be retired by the board of trustees; provided that the medical board shall certify that such member is mentally or physically incapacitated for the further performance of duty, that such incapacity is likely to be permanent, and that such member should be retired. . . . Baltimore County Code

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