Judge John Maughmer ruled July 7 that Connie Rehm, who filed federal and state discrimination complaints after the incident, must be rehired even though RHCL Director Barb Read had testified that reinstating Rehm would be a burden on the cash-strapped library and create hostility among staff, the July 8 St. Joseph News-Press reported.
In May, a federal jury found that the library had violated Rehm’s civil rights and awarded her $53,712 in back pay. Attorney David Gibbs of the Christian Law Association in Seminole, Florida, has filed a motion for Rolling Hills to pay Rehm’s legal fees of more than $275,000. Maughmer must still rule on that request and on any appeal the library’s attorneys may make.
Attorneys for both sides said they would meet in coming weeks to work out the timetable for Rehm’s return to the Savannah branch.
Posted July 14, 2006.