Starting on #GivingTuesday, join us online for a weeklong celebration of clients and partners who collaborate with us in building a just society. We’ll celebrate this year’s recipients of the John P. Sarbanes Courage Awards, which honor clients who exhibit tremendous courage in the face of injustice, and Outstanding Partner Awards, which go to individuals and organizations whose work makes a difference for our clients and the issues we work on. Follow us here and on our Facebook, X, and LinkedIn pages from December 3 to December to join the celebration.
John P. Sarbanes Courage Awards
- Theresa Fleming
- Mohammed Salim and Rafiedul Islam
- Mariela Campos Corado, Patricia De Romero, Jackeline Chavez, and one other former Molly Maid employee
Outstanding Partner Awards
John P. Sarbanes Courage Awards
The John P. Sarbanes Courage Awards honor clients and others who exhibit tremendous courage in the face of injustice.
Theresa Fleming has two adoptive kids who have significant trauma from their experiences with their biological mother. The PJC’s Education Stability Project has, at different times, represented both of her children. Last year, we represented her and her son in a fight against Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) over their attempt to place him (age nine, with significant special education needs) in a disciplinary school. During much of this fight, her husband was dying of cancer, and her husband died just days before we entered mediation in front of a judge. She decided not to postpone the hearing, and she fought for her son with zeal despite being in mourning. Ms. Fleming passionately fights for her children to get an education while also advocating for their dignity and right to be treated as full people with emotions and autonomy.
“I am so humbled and honored at your nomination of me for the Courage Award. Your words brought tears to my eyes. I am so appreciative of your hard work and dedication to helping us through these challenging times dealing with PGCPS’s systems injustice to prohibit children their opportunity to the rights to obtain a free and public education in a safe environment.” – Theresa Fleming
Mohammed Salim and his stepson Rafiedul Islam showed extraordinary courage by standing up for justice in the face of tremendous pressure. With help from the PJC, Mr. Salim and Mr. Islam filed a federal lawsuit alleging that they faced egregious wage theft while working at an America’s Best Pizza and Wings franchise restaurant in Salisbury, Maryland, for a period of several years. Mr. Salim alleged that the restaurant’s owners paid him just a few dollars an hour while falsely promising to make him a co-owner of the business, and Mr. Islam alleged that the owners similarly withheld his wages with the false promise that they would hold his money for him and pay it to him upon his request. Both alleged that they regularly worked 40 to 80 hours per week but were never paid an overtime rate. It is never an easy decision to turn to litigation, but what made it especially difficult here was that the restaurant’s owners were longtime acquaintances of Mr. Salim and prominent members of their community. The courage of Mr. Salim and Mr. Islam paid off when the parties reached a settlement that provided them with $260,000 in unpaid wages and damages, sending a message to wage theft perpetrators across the state.
“The Public Justice Center works for people’s rights, especially people who are not economically and financially healthy. The Public Justice Center is great for them. We need this kind of organization to keep people’s rights in society.” – Mohammed Salim
“When everyone turned us down, the Public Justice Center helped us get what we deserved.” – Rafiedul Islam
Mariela Campos Corado, Patricia De Romero, Jackeline Chavez, and one other former Molly Maid employee persevered over several years and multiple lawsuits, showing courage throughout. In 2022, Ms. Campos and Ms. De Romero were sued by their former employer, a cleaning company, for allegedly breaching a noncompete agreement. With the PJC’s help, the court dismissed the company’s claims. The courage of Ms. Campos and Ms. De Romero gave rise to a bill – now law – expanding low-wage workers’ protections against exploitative noncompete agreements. With representation from the PJC, Ms. Campos and Ms. De Romero then joined with Ms. Chavez and another former colleague to sue the cleaning company for unpaid wages, settling in early 2024 for $18,000 in unpaid wages and damages. These courageous workers’ willingness to challenge the injustices they faced led to the dismissal of noncompete suits against them, the passage of a law to protect workers in similar circumstances, and financial compensation for their unpaid wages.
“So many immigrants do not know our rights. Those of the highest class only profit from the effort of the humblest. I am very grateful for the support of the PJC.” – Mariela Campos
“This case was very long, like any case, and it took hard and efficient work. At times I had doubts but in the end the case was favorable! All of this was due to you all as professionals, I am very thankful!” – Patricia De Romero
“The Public Justice Center helps and supports in a huge way the people who need to be heard after experiencing so much abuse from their employers. Thank you and there is no need to be afraid at denouncing injustice.” – Jackeline Chavez
Outstanding Partner Awards
The Outstanding Partner Awards go to individuals and organizations whose work makes a difference for our clients and the issues we work on.
CASA is a powerhouse in Maryland and nationally in building power and improving the quality of life in working-class communities of color. CASA creates change with its power building model, blending human services, community organizing, and advocacy. The PJC has long collaborated with CASA in defending the rights of low-wage workers, advancing immigrant rights, and protecting tenants in Baltimore City and across the state of Maryland. During the pandemic, CASA was a leader in ensuring that vulnerable communities had access to financial assistance, healthy food, and COVID-19 vaccines – as well as providing education and counseling to community members facing eviction. CASA co-led the Renters United Maryland coalition to pass the Tenant Safety Act, which will hold landlords accountable for dangerous housing conditions, and to pass a bill that will provide eviction prevention funds to families whose children are in community schools. At the PJC, we value CASA as a partner because they have the cultural competency, language skills, experience, and community trust that enables them to engage with communities that are often difficult to reach. We routinely refer individuals who come to the PJC seeking legal services or other assistance to CASA for additional support, as well as the opportunity to integrate into CASA’s geographic organizing committees.
“CASA is proud to partner with the Public Justice Center to protect and uplift the lives of working-class Black, Latino/a/e, Afro-descendent, Indigenous, and Immigrant communities. By joining forces, we’ve won tremendous housing justice laws, from eviction prevention funding to increased renter protections. Working together, we will be unstoppable in advocating for health care access, safeguarding workers’ rights, and securing housing for all.” – Ninfa Amador, CASA
Murphy Anderson PLLC lives up to its reputation for being “lawyers serving the public interest” in its longstanding partnership with the PJC. In the last year, Murphy Anderson co-counseled with the PJC to investigate independent contractor misclassification and wage theft by a national remote call-center corporation and to draft a detailed letter to the U.S. Department of Labor about the violations we uncovered. Then, before and during the 2024 legislative session, attorneys from Murphy Anderson worked closely with attorneys from the PJC to draft paystub transparency legislation requiring that employers provide employees with written paystubs containing enough information for workers to understand their hours and pay. That bill passed in amended form and is now law, thanks in no small part to the expertise and hard work of Murphy Anderson attorneys.
Following the 2024 legislative session, the PJC co-counseled with Murphy Anderson on a lawsuit brought on behalf of three construction workers who alleged that they were underpaid by many thousands of dollars for work done on Morgan State University’s Public Safety Building, a publicly funded construction project in Baltimore City. The settlement in that lawsuit will provide the workers with nearly $33,000 in unpaid wages and damages.
Their attorneys – Mark Hanna, Ricardo Perez, Nicole Rubin, Nicolas Mendoza, Grace Anzalone, and Adreanna Sellers – all worked with the PJC during the past year. As just one example of how Murphy Anderson PLLC lives its values, the firm generously donated a portion of their attorneys’ fees to the PJC. We appreciate their financial support as well as their legal partnership. The PJC continues to partner with Murphy Anderson on new legislative and litigation matters, building our organization’s capacity to better serve Maryland’s low-wage workers.
“The PJC is an engine for justice for low-wage workers in Annapolis and in the courts. It is always a pleasure to partner with the top-notch legal talent in the organization, to get real results for victims of wage theft.” – Mark Hanna
Alyssa Fieo is the sole education attorney at the Public Defender’s Office for all of Maryland and is a key member of the Maryland Suspension Representation Project (MSRP). She has led, or been instrumental in, important school discipline reforms. The 2024 legislative session was particularly difficult for juvenile rights advocates, and Alyssa has kept up the momentum for reform, even at times when MSRP partners have had reduced capacity. She leads the charge on meeting with school districts and legislators as well as planning with MSRP partners on how to address school discipline issues systemically. She brings her depth of knowledge, clarity of communication, and undaunting drive to improve the lives of children to her testimony at legislative hearings, and she is assertive in her demands on behalf of Maryland students while maintaining a friendly demeanor with legislators. Every Maryland student has benefited in some way from Alyssa’s advocacy.
“Collaborating with the PJC’s Education Stability Project has been critical to my own advocacy as an education attorney with the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. By working together, we have expanded our ability to address the barriers to education services and inequities that so many students experience across Maryland.” – Alyssa Fieo
The Youth Action Board (YAB) works tirelessly to rid Baltimore City of the homelessness crisis that far too many young people experience. Established in 2017, the YAB is comprised of young Baltimoreans (ages 16-24) with lived experience of homelessness and their young allies who address the issues impacting youth and young adults experiencing homelessness in Baltimore City. The YAB is responsible for advising the Continuum of Care Program and the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services on issues related to youth homelessness – with the goal of improving the quality and effectiveness of the city’s response system. In this capacity, the YAB also assists with making informed funding decisions for programs serving youth and participates in the design of the homeless youth count. The YAB has worked closely with the PJC in advocating legislative priorities that directly affect their base. The YAB partnered with the PJC and Renters United Maryland (RUM) to advocate for the Tenant Possessions Recovery Act in Maryland’s 2024 legislative session. The Act would have allowed evicted tenants to reclaim their personal property ten days after they are evicted. YAB members provided testimony for this bill in addition to providing organizing and action support for all other RUM priority bills, specifically highlighting how homelessness and tenant protections are vitally important to young Maryland residents who find themselves on their own. The insight and work the YAB provides and their partnership with the PJC, RUM, and other organizations in Baltimore and statewide are invaluable and greatly appreciated.
“We are the face, and voice of youth experiencing housing instability, working endlessly to raise awareness, influence policy, and drive change in our youth and community.” – The Baltimore City Youth Action Board
The PJC honors Jennifer Rowe and Michael Abrams with an Outstanding Partner Award for their years-long fight for Marylanders facing public accommodations discrimination who are denied justice by the Maryland Commission on Civil Rights (MCCR). Jennifer Rowe filed and litigated a disability-based discrimination claim, first on her own through the MCCR, without remedy, and then with representation from Michael Abrams, the PJC’s Murnaghan Fellow (2021-22), in her appeal of the MCCR’s finding of “no probable cause” for discrimination before the Appellate Court of Maryland. The court dismissed her case, claiming that it did not have jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court of Maryland affirmed. This year, Ms. Rowe and Mr. Abrams came together again with the PJC to advocate successfully for the passage of SB 50 / HB 394, which creates an avenue to challenge findings by the MCCR of no probable cause for discrimination claims in the state appellate courts – restoring appellate jurisdiction for cases like hers. With their stirring testimony at two hearings, the bill sailed through the General Assembly on the first try. Said Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Chair Will Smith at the committee voting session, “I love this bill!”
“Giants of the civil rights movement fought for the right to be free from discrimination in Maryland businesses. Today, that right still cannot be taken for granted. Under the tireless leadership of Deb Gardner and the Public Justice Center, our team moved the Legislature to fix a restrictive court decision and ensure appellate rights for Marylanders who face discrimination in public accommodations. We are honored to accept the PJC Outstanding Partner award.” – Michael Abrams and Jennifer Rowe
