Blades v. Woods

Petitioner, Randy W. Blades, Sr. (Blades), held the rank of sergeant in the Baltimore City Police Department (the Department) of which the respondent, Edward V. Woods, was the Commissioner. Blades was found guilty of improper conduct, involving sexual harassment, by a departmental trial board, and he was demoted to police officer. Blades filed an action in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City in which he requested judicial review of the departmental decision and in which he also claimed damages for an alleged violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

*477The theory of Blades’s civil rights claim was that he…