Riverdale Park discriminated against Palestinian-American, Maryland high court says

A Prince George’s County town illegally discriminated against a Palestinian-American towing company owner in awarding a towing contract, Maryland’s top court unanimously ruled Thursday.

In its 7-0 decision, the Court of Appeals cited trial testimony regarding ethnic slurs directed against Mamoun Ashkar in reinstating a jury’s verdict that Riverdale Park violated his statutory rights against national origin discrimination.

The high court discounted what it called the town’s pretextual defense that the chosen towing company was on an approved list of vendors. The court said no evidence was presented that the town ever relied on the “Tow List” in awarding contracts.

“This case sends a strong message,” said Ashkar’s attorney, Levi S. Zaslow. “Racism and discrimination will not be tolerated.”

Riverdale Park Mayor Alan K. Thompson declined to comment Friday on the case or the court’s decision, which he said is being reviewed by counsel.

The Court of Appeals’ decision resolved a conflict that arose when the Prince George’s County Circuit Court jury’s May 2018 verdict was overturned by the trial judge.

Judge Toni E. Clarke said Riverdale Park gave a valid business-related reason for not awarding the contract to Ashkar’s company, Greg’s Towing Inc., and that Ashkar had not shown discrimination was the motivating factor for the town’s decision.

The intermediate Court of Special Appeals disagreed and reinstated the jury’s verdict last July. The appellate court said the jury validly concluded that Riverdale Park’s stated reason for passing on Greg’s Towing and choosing AlleyCat Towing & Recovery Inc. was a mere pretext for the town’s desire not to award the contract to a company owned by someone of Arab descent.

The Court of Appeals agreed, noting the jury believed Ashkar’s recollection of having been called “camel jockey” by members of the Riverdale Park Police Department who also discussed how to “get rid of him” shortly after he bought Greg’s Towing in 2015.

The high court also said the town’s defense that it relied on its tow list of approved towing companies was not credible.

“The (trial) record is bereft of any written policy, ordinance, or resolution that listed the Tow List as a factor, let alone a decisive factor, in selecting a towing company,” Judge Michele D. Hotten wrote for the court.

“(O)ur review of the record, including an examination of the town’s code, ordinances, and resolutions, produced no official criteria, let alone written policy, for selecting a towing vendor,” Hotten added. “A jury could have reasonably decided that the Tow List was a post-hoc rationale for selecting AlleyCat and was not worthy of credence.”

The high court also noted that Riverdale Park had passed a resolution, months before awarding the towing contract, requiring that the town give preference to local vendors.

“Greg’s, as the only towing service within the town’s municipal limits, should have been favored according to the resolution,” Hotten wrote.

Zaslow, Ashkar’s attorney, said he was “thrilled and gratified” by the court’s decision.

“Employers and local governments can’t discriminate and then say it was our business judgment when it was just a pretext for discrimination,” added Zaslow, of Smithey Law Group LLC in Annapolis.

Though upholding the jury’s verdict, the high court sent the case back to the circuit court to determine if Ashkar’s compensation must be capped at $200,000 under the Local Government Tort Claims Act or whether he is entitled to the $259,212 the jury awarded.

The Court of Appeals issued its decision in Town of Riverdale Park v. Mamoun K. Ashkar et al., No. 49 September Term 2020.