COURT SET TO RULE ON NEW TRIAL FIRED SCHOOL OFFICIAL ALLEGES DISCRIMINATION.Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer PASADENA - A federal appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. will decide whether an ousted Palmdale School District The Palmdale School District is a school district that serves a major part of the city of Palmdale, California (USA). The Palmdale School District was first formed in 1888. Approximately 28,000 students are enrolled in the Palmdale School District. official can get a second trial over her lawsuit claiming she was the victim of racial discrimination. Attorneys representing Diana Beard-Williams and the school district were due Thursday to deliver 10-minute presentations before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals' 9th Circuit, but the justices decided against hearing oral arguments. The court is expected to rule within three weeks to three months on whether Beard-Williams deserves a new trial, court officials said. Beard-Willaims' lawsuit had been dismissed in October 2001 by a federal court judge after she failed for three days to appear in court for cross-examination by the school district's attorney. Beard-Williams, who said she was suffering from ear infections and anxiety attacks and had a note from a psychiatrist saying she shouldn't go to court, appealed the judge's ruling. She was fired in April 1999 from her $59,347-a-year job as public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most director of the Palmdale district and executive director of the Palmdale Education Foundation. She said she was discriminated against because she is African-American and for complaining about what she called fraudulent spending on the Palmdale Head Start program. School officials said she harassed co-workers, mishandled foundation financial records and refused to obey district Superintendent District Superintendent may be:
In her appeal, Beard-Williams said the judge was biased against her, harassed her and made errors in court, that her own attorney inadequately represented her, and that the school district's attorney intentionally mischaracterized issues. Beard-Williams also said the jury had no African-Americans. In throwing out the lawsuit, federal court Judge A. Howard Matz Howard Matz is a judge on the Central District of California. Howard Matz was appointed a United States District Judge by President Bill Clinton in 1998. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Matz taught police science and clerked for a United States District Judge said he believed that Beard-Williams failed to appear to be cross-examined because she expected the jury would decide against her. Matz also said that Beard-Williams was on a personal vendetta vendetta (vĕndĕt`ə) [Ital.,=vengeance], feud between members of two kinship groups to avenge a wrong done to a relative. Although the term originated in Corsica, the custom has also been practiced in other parts of Italy, in other and that the reason she was ousted from the district ``had nothing, or virtually nothing, to do with race.'' In January 2002, Matz spared Beard-Williams from paying the district more than $258,000 it spent in attorney fees defending against her lawsuit. Matz did order Beard-Williams to pay $2,595.60 to the district for court costs court costs n. fees for expenses that the courts pass on to attorneys, who then pass them on to their clients or, in some kinds of cases, to the losing party. . In her appeal, Beard-Williams states: ``The district court's decision to dismiss appellant's case denied appellant A person who, dissatisfied with the judgment rendered in a lawsuit decided in a lower court or the findings from a proceeding before an Administrative Agency, asks a superior court to review the decision. due process and ignored the fact that appellant repeatedly asked for a few days in total to overcome a verified physical ailment ail·ment n. A physical or mental disorder, especially a mild illness. for which appellant provided an affidavit from Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is an integrated managed care organization, based in Oakland, California, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney R. Garfield. indicating three days were needed.'' Beard-Williams also wrote that she did not know at the time of her trial that her attorney, who resigned after Beard-Williams faxed the news media a letter criticizing her performance in court, had just been involved in a capital murder case. ``Maybe the high intensity and demand of that trial is what drained her, but she had no energy, no time and no ability left to deal with my case,'' Beard-Williams wrote. ``She was rarely available, documents including the cast of characters were being sent in late and she had no time to interview critical witnesses.'' In their written response, the school district's attorneys said Beard-Williams repeatedly tried to avoid being questioned about her allegations, and at least three times before the trial claimed sickness to avoid depositions. She has claimed heart problems, a headache, a diabetic coma diabetic coma n. A coma that develops in severe and inadequately treated cases of diabetes mellitus. Also called Kussmaul's coma. Diabetic coma , an ear infection and two anxiety attacks, the attorneys said. ``Despite this so-called extreme anxiety that purportedly precluded her from attending trial, when the court spoke with Beard-Williams telephonically on Oct. 18, 2001, Beard-Williams sounded coherent, focused, articulate and argumentative Controversial; subject to argument. Pleading in which a point relied upon is not set out, but merely implied, is often labeled argumentative. Pleading that contains arguments that should be saved for trial, in addition to allegations establishing a Cause of Action or ,'' the attorneys continued. The district's attorneys said Beard-Williams did not back up her assertions that the judge made errors or that her attorney failed to adequately represent her. In addition, attorneys argued that Beard-Williams cannot appeal on the basis that the jury was not made up of her racial peers because the case was thrown out before it got to the jury. ``Beard-Williams had her day in court and she abused it,'' defense attorneys wrote. ``She should not be given another opportunity to do it again.'' |
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