County Owes Police Detective Hundreds of Thousands in Back Pay

Baltimore County will have to pay a police detective $225,000 in back pay plus interest and will likely owe thousands more in legal fees after a federal court denied the county's appeal last month.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit threw out a portion of the County's appeal of liability because the County failed to renew a motion post-verdict.

The court did review the county's appeal that the award by the federal jury was excessive.

"Our review of the record leads us to conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion," according to the opinion issued by the three judge panel.

The resolution means the county will have to pay Det. William Blake $225,000 plus interest for the April 2010 jury decision. The county and Kathleen Cahill, Blake's attorney, will negotiate legal fees, which the county must now pay.

Blake sued after he was ordered to undergo medical tests after he testified on behalf of another officer who had a seizure.

Blake said he had also suffered from a single seizure in 1996. The county required Blake to undergo medical exams to establish his fitness for duty following his testimony on behalf of the other officer.

Blake lost no wages in his original lawsuit. A jury awarded him damages for emotional distress and the county appealed.