Feb 4, 2026
Steven Muse was good at his job. As a senior park manager for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, he ran 33 parks and led a team of 27 people. His bosses gave him top marks on every performance review. He never got in trouble, not once in three and a half years.
He was also making history. Mr. Muse was the first Black person ever to hold the senior park manager title in his division.
On February 4, 2026, Justly Prudent filed a federal lawsuit claiming that M-NCPPC fired Mr. Muse in retaliation for speaking out against discrimination.
The problems started in September 2023. During a management meeting, Mr. Muse raised concerns about what he had seen on hiring committees. Qualified job candidates from areas with large Black and Hispanic populations were being turned down for reasons that did not make sense—things like "the commute is too long." But white candidates from even farther away, including other states, kept getting hired.
Mr. Muse told his colleagues the agency needed to stop rejecting people based on where they lived.
Within weeks, everything changed. Mr. Muse was suddenly cut from consideration for a promotion he had earned the right to compete for. He stopped being invited to management meetings. Training opportunities went to other managers but not to him. His supervisors started meeting with his staff behind his back.
Mr. Muse filed formal complaints. Nothing happened.
Then, in October 2024, the agency put him on leave and launched an investigation into his use of a work vehicle. Using GPS data, the agency claimed Mr. Muse had made 131 unauthorized stops at his home over more than a year. The investigation was triggered by a complaint from a white employee who later bragged about wanting to "bury" Mr. Muse.
The lawsuit explains that no other manager in the agency's history had ever been investigated this way. The agency counted Mr. Muse's lunch breaks as violations—even though he was allowed to take them and his home was less than a mile from one of his parks. When Mr. Muse finally got to see some of the evidence, the agency's own numbers fell apart.
It did not matter. In February 2025, M-NCPPC fired Mr. Muse and demanded he pay back $3,000.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit describes how the agency treated other managers accused of much worse conduct. Three managers investigated for allegedly selling agency property and keeping the money were allowed to retire with full benefits. None of them were asked to pay anything back.
Mr. Muse, who had done nothing wrong, lost his career.
The lawsuit seeks to get Mr. Muse his job back, recover his lost wages, and hold the agency accountable for discrimination and retaliation.
For more information, see Justly Prudent's official press release at: https://www.justlyprudent.com/press-releases/black-senior-park-manager-fired-for-opposing-discrimination