Mediation supervisor sues Maryland Attorney General for race discrimination

On January 22, 2026, Justly Prudent filed a civil rights lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County on behalf of Kandi Morris, an African American woman who served as a Mediation Supervisor in the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Attorney General of Maryland from April 2020 until her termination in June 2024.

The lawsuit paints a stark picture of a two-tiered employment system operating within the Attorney General's office. According to the complaint, since the Largo regional office opened in 2015, it has been staffed exclusively by Black women employed as contractual workers. Meanwhile, the Baltimore office and other regional offices have regularly hired White women—including former volunteers—into permanent positions with greater job security, benefits, and opportunities for advancement.

Ms. Morris brought exceptional qualifications to her role. She holds a Master of Arts degree in government with a concentration in legal studies from Johns Hopkins University, a bachelor's degree from Towson University, and a 40-hour basic mediation certificate. Before joining the Attorney General's office, she had accumulated ten years of mediation experience in both the court system and state government.

Despite performing identical duties to permanent Mediation Supervisors in Baltimore, Ms. Morris was repeatedly denied conversion from contractual to permanent status. Beginning in fall 2020 and continuing through early 2024, she made multiple formal requests citing specific provisions of Maryland law that required her conversion. State Personnel and Pensions law provides that contractual employees performing permanent functions on a full-time basis should be converted to permanent status, yet the Attorney General's office refused to act.

The discrimination extended beyond employment classification. The complaint describes how Ms. Morris was denied overtime compensation after her supervisor incorrectly told her that contractual employees were ineligible for overtime, leading her to work uncompensated hours for years. When she applied for a Chief Investigator position in January 2024, she was rated "Best Qualified" but was never interviewed. A White colleague experiencing an overwhelming workload had her assignments redistributed to another employee; Ms. Morris's requests for overtime to manage her caseload were simply denied.

When Ms. Morris began raising these concerns to the Human Resources Director in early 2024, the retaliation was swift. On June 10, 2024—just months after she cited specific legal provisions supporting her right to permanent status—the Attorney General's office informed her that her contract would not be renewed. When she asked for a reason, she was told the office "did not have to provide one."

The pretextual nature of the termination was exposed almost immediately. While Ms. Morris still had two weeks remaining on her contract, the Attorney General's office posted her position online. Colleagues contacted her asking whether the posting was for her job or whether the office was adding a new supervisor. The immediate reposting demonstrated the ongoing need for a Mediation Supervisor in Largo and undercut any claim that the non-renewal was based on legitimate business reasons.

The lawsuit brings claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act, alleging both race discrimination and retaliation. The case is Kandi Morris v. Anthony G. Brown (Case No. pending), filed in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland.