Experts say the legal fees could cost Delaware taxpayers considerably more than the $1 million demanded in the lawsuit.
By Lee Williams
Attorney General Beau Biden chose a well-connected law firm to defend the Delaware Psychiatric Center (DPC) and several DPC officials against a whistleblower lawsuit brought by the facility’s former Director of Nursing.
Biden could have assigned the case to a deputy attorney general – who are already on the state payroll – instead of using additional taxpayer dollars to pay for a team of private attorneys.
Gloria Harrison, Ph.D., filed suit against the trouble-plagued facility in June 2008, claiming former DPC Director Susan Watson Robinson and former Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Director Renata Henry retaliated against her, after she blew the whistle on patient abuse witnessed by one of her nurses.
The suit claims the retaliation violated federal and state law, including the Delaware Whistleblowers’ Protection Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which she alleges was misused as a tool to aid in her removal. She is asking for $1 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
Harrison alleges the retaliation began after she questioned the adequacy of an internal, DPC investigation into patient abuse that occurred in November 2006, which one of her nurses described as “the worse incident of patient abuse she had witnessed in over 20 years as a nurse.”
Wilmington attorney Jack Shrum represents Harrison. He was surprised Biden chose a private law firm to defend the state – Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP – who assigned three well-compensated attorneys and their support staff to the case.
“I’ve dealt with DPC on other matters,” Shrum told the Caesar Rodney Institute. “For matters going to court, they’ve always used Deputy Attorneys General. In my cases, they’ve never hired outside counsel.”
Shrum and others said historically, the Attorney General’s Office usually retains outside counsel only when a case calls for specialized expertise, such as asbestos or DNA-related evidence.
“This is a garden-variety FMLA case,” Shrum said. “This is what they see all the time –employment law.”
Even more curious to Shrum and other legal observers is that as the case has progressed, the defense managed to get DPC and the Department of Health and Social Services dropped from the suit. In addition, the court dismissed claims stemming from actions made by Henry and Robinson in their official capacity. Henry and Robinson remain defendants only for actions that occurred in their individual capacity – a situation that usually requires a state employee to pay for their own attorney, instead of receiving a taxpayer-subsidized team of lawyers.
“I have never seen this before,” Shrum said. “The state is paying Drinker Biddle & Reath to represent Renata Henry and Susan Robinson in their individual capacity, on the state’s dime.”
Shrum estimates the three private attorneys bill the state an average rate of $500 per hour or more.
He and others estimate the state could end up paying more in legal fees than the $1 million in damages Harrison has demanded in the suit.
“[The legal fees] could easily approach $1 million, but they’re not there yet,” he said. “I would be very surprised if they haven’t already reached $200,000 to $250,000.”
The Caesar Rodney Institute has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for legal fees associated with this case to the Attorney General’s Office.
One of the Drinker Biddle & Reath team members is Joseph C. Schoell, who was former-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s chief legal counsel.
Shrum believes this connection could be the reason Biden chose the firm.
Biden was not willing to be interviewed for this story.
The meter on the defense team is still running. The three attorneys are looking for any dirt they can find on Harrison.
So far, they’ve subpoenaed or deposed her current employer, a former prospective employer in Virginia, two college professors and two college advisors.
“I don’t know why. Neither was involved in the case,” Shrum said. “They were scared to death.”
Contact investigative reporter Lee Williams at (302) 242-9272 or lee@caesarrodney.org
The Caesar Rodney Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan research and educational organization and is committed to being a catalyst for improved performance, accountability, and efficiency in Delaware government.
© Copyright Jan.4, 2010 by the Caesar Rodney Institute
This is just too, too incredible! It would appear to me that Biden is using taxpayers’ dollars to protect an old crony of Gov. Minner. We all know how these politicians and state-appointed officials are connected. I know for a fact that Renate Henry has been on at least one “trip” with Gov. Minner, and there’s no telling how many more trips she took with her. Now that Henry is in trouble, she no doubt called in her friends for help. Thus, the taxpayers are now paying her legal bills. Let me state for the record that I, as a taxpaying citizen of this state, VEHEMENTLY OBJECT to Biden hiring a firm at $500 per hour (or any other amount for that matter) to protect the abuses (alleged or not) of this or any other state administrator. If she is innocent, her conduct should stand for itself!!!!!!
[…] 7, 2010 by garrettwozniak Earlier this week, Lee Williams posted on this blog a story about Attorney General Beau Biden’s selection of a politically-connected law firm to defend […]
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