Justice Petitions

In 2021, local businessman, Randy Richardson, was arbitrarily barred by the PGC Department of Permitting, Inspection and Enforcement (DPIE) from opening up a business at Iverson Mall in Temple Hills, MD. DPIE secretly allowed other large businesses to open at the mall despite their representations to Richardson that no business could open until the mall obtained a Use and Occupancy permit, which it has not possessed in over a decade. Richardson is fighting to obtain justice for the substantial harm he incurred in connection with DPIE's actions.

In April 2023, Prince George's County's Nuisance Abatement Board (NAB) unlawfully seized property belonging to Collision Towing and Auto Body, LLC, and its owner, Cornelius Woods, and ordered the immediate closure of the business based upon common code violations involving trash and debris. The NAB’s closure order has lasted nearly a year despite repeated requests from Woods to lift the order. As a result, Woods lost all his insurance contracts and was forced to lay off nearly a dozen employees, terminate a youth apprenticeship program, and ultimately sell his property just to survive. In addition to seeking justice for Woods and Collision Auto, the lawsuit challenges the County’s egregious practice of unlawfully stripping residents of their constitutional rights under the false pretense of tackling public nuisances.

In 2022, Patricia McLamb began remodeling her home in Mt. Rainier, Maryland with the goal of making the household more accomodating for her wheelchair-bound daughter. Despite possessing all the necessary permits to perform the construction and demolition work on the residence, Ms. McLamb was subjected to baseless stop work orders and other unjust administrative actions taken by code enforcement officials with The City of Mt. Rainier and Prince George's County Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE). The eggregious and discriminatory actions taken by the code enforcement officials ultimately led to the complete destruction of Ms. McLamb's home and caused her to suffer substantial damages in excess of $700,000.

In August 2021, Officer Magassouba was terminated by the Prince George's County Police Department (PGCPD) after he refused to change his witness statement to protect a White officer who used egregiously excessive force during an unnecessary arrest of a Black female civilian. The PGCPD tried to cover up its true motives for the termination by launching an Internal Affairs investigation into Officer Magassouba's background, culminating in a claim that he failed to list two alleged arrests on an application he submitted in 2001 and 2004 to a separate police department.

Khoa Hoang is a small business owner who operates a handful of hair and nail salons throughout Prince George's County. In 2018, the owners of the Shops at Iverson Mall in Temple Hills convinced Hoang to open a new salon at the mall. After spending substantial resources to pass all the inspections and acquire all the permits to open the business, the Prince George's County Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE) arbitrarily refused to issue the approved Use and Occupany (U&O) permit for Hoang's salon. Similar to the claims made in the Richardson case, DPIE based its refusal to issue the approved permit on the fact that Iverson Mall did not have a U&O permit. However, DPIE allowed other large business tenants to open at the mall despite the deficiency.

A long-time employee of the U.S. Citizenship Immigration Services (USCIS), Charlie Batista suddenly became the target of persistent acts of intimidation, retaliation, and discrimination in the workplace because of a known disability he has lived and thrived with. In fact, Batista was initially hired under the special authority (i.e., Schedule A) that gives federal agencies an optional way to hire individuals with disabilities. Nonetheless, Batista's new supervisor at the USCIS Miami Field Office believed that his disability presented a risk to the Agency's operations, and therefore, Batista had to go. Fortunately, after a year of torment, Batista's hardship transfer was approved and he was able to transfer to a new office, bringing an end to his workplace troubles. Batista is seeking to vindicate the injustice he was subjected to during the period of torment, which, among other things, led to an unwarranted delay in his career-ladder promotion.

In 1978, Garnell Walls purchased a plot of land in Brandywine with the intent of building a single-family residence on it. At the time, he had a soil test performed to ensure the lot was suitable for development. Following his retirement, Walls began the process of obtaining the necessary permits and inspections to construct his dream home. However, Prince George's County Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement prevented Walls from doing so by refusing to grant him an interim waiver for the use of private well and septic systems—despite knowing it would cost Walls more than $2 million to connect to the nearest public water and sewer lines.

Mustafa Ak, a dedicated police officer and a Muslim male, sought to participate in the Dep't of Housing and Urban Development's Good Neighbor Next Door (GNND) Sales Program. This federal initiative allows law enforcement officers, teachers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians the opportunity to purchase homes at a 50% discount. Although HUD initially allowed Mr. Ak to proceed with the purchase of a home under the GNND Sales Program, the Agency later rescinded the offer citing Mr. Ak’s ineligibility under a specific regulation (i.e., 24 C.F.R. § 291.520(c)). Yet, evidence obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that HUD allowed other officers to participate in the GNND Sales Program despite their ineligibility under the same regulatory provision.

For more than 4 years, Immigration Officer Yadira Dominguez has been forced to endure a toxic and volatile male-chauvinistic workplace at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Miami, Florida. Despite a decade-long career of stellar work performance, Dominguez’s troubles began after she filed a complaint to report inappropriate and concerning conduct on the part of her male supervisor with respect to an unwelcomed visit to her personal residence in December 2018. The supervisor claimed that he was performing a “wellness” check because Dominguez did not report for work that day, even though Dominguez had properly notified the supervisor that she would be taking sick leave. Nonetheless, because Dominguez spoke out against the supervisor’s behavior—in a male-dominated workplace—she became the target of a relentless campaign of intimidation, harassment, and bullying. After battling through litigation for more than 3 years, Dominguez's trial for justice begins February 26, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.