THEODORE PRIESTER, JR. v. BOARD OF APPEALS OF BALTIMORE COUNTY
Court of Special Appeals of Maryland, Arthur, July 27, 2017,
Pension- Denial of Benefits- Under the Baltimore County Code, an employee who has enough years of service to retire can be denied a pension if those years did not involve “honorable and faithful service.”

Facts
A Baltimore County fire captain who joined the county’s fire department in 1982 “sexually harassed numerous female subordinates and created a hostile work environment in which employees were afraid to report his misconduct. After the captain’s conduct came to light, the fire department terminated his employment. He applied for retirement benefits.”
The Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Retirement System denied the captain’s application on the ground that he had not rendered “honorable and faithful service as an employee,” a condition for the receipt of benefits under the Baltimore County Code.
The Baltimore County Board of Appeals affirmed that determination, and the Circuit Court for Baltimore County affirmed the Board of Appeals.
Priester requested that the Court of Appeals review the decision, arguing that the term “honorable and faithful” is vague (among other claims).
Law from the Case
Held: The Court of Appeals disagreed, stating that while “fleeting or insignificant” misconduct might not amount to “dishonorable or unfaithful conduct,” the extensive nature of Priester’s harassment did.
From the Case: The Board was entitled to find that “a fire officer’s service was not honorable or faithful if he was found, over the course of several years, to have abused his authority by violating the rules that he was obligated to enforce and sexually harassing subordinates, who were unable to complain precisely because of his position of authority.”