In Rainey v. Maximum Security, No. CAL 03-02720 (Prince George's County Circuit Court), Leizer Goldsmith obtained a judgment in 2005 for $200,806.00, for compensatory and punitive damages for sexual harassment, retaliation, and unpaid wages caused by Maximum Private Security Corporation and Mervin A. Gillespie (collectively “Defendants”). Mr. Goldsmith was also awarded full attorneys' fees and costs in excess of $140,000.00.

The Court presented the jury with special interrogatories regarding sexual harassment, constructive discharge, wage payment violations, and retaliation. There were 19 decisions for the jury to make on the verdict sheet and all 19 were answered in Ms. Rainey's favor! The jury awarded all the hard damages requested, treble damages on the wage and pay issues, and punitive damages as well.

The case involved the harassment of our client, a security company employee, by the owner of the company, who died after the litigation got underway. He harassed her daily, in person and on the phone, persistently seeking sex, over a period of about a year and a half. On several occasions, he attempted to kiss her against her wishes. Our client complained to the owner's brother, who was the company President, but he ignored the complaints. Retaliatory actions were taken against our client, first in the form of refusing to pay her bonuses due, and finally by stripping her of her office duties and assigning her to a guard post. Defendants claimed that she had engaged in misconduct but had no serious evidence to support the assertion.  The award was as follows:

The trial judge ordered the Defendants to pay the Firm's fees, and both the original judgment and the decision on fees became final.