Wilson Gaskins Case Study

For thirty-six years prior to her termination, Wilson-Gaskins was a Senior Claims Examiner for GEICO. In that capacity, Wilson-Gaskins was “responsible for overseeing and handling a case from beginning to end.” She handled cases “including major bodily injury, or any case where litigation was anticipated,” and she was “responsible for processing the entire case on [her] own,” including “contacting and interviewing witnesses, evaluating medical evidence, attempting to settle cases without litigation, referring the cases to outside counsel and ensuring that counsel was properly handling the case.” Wilson-Gaskins alleged that, on March 20, 2006, she was “constructively discharged” from her employment with GEICO, after being told that if she

. . be held and not be disbursed in any way, until we have reached an agreement on the total distribution to include Attorney fees, cost [sic] and expenses.” She stated that she was “requesting this action because of [her] overall dissatisfaction with the handling of [her] case from a legal standpoint.” Specifically, Wilson-Gaskins expressed that she was dissatisfied with: Kaye’s decision to file the claim in Montgomery County instead of “the more favorable jurisdiction of Prince George[’]s County”; delays in filing suit and with trial dates “as a result of [Kaye’s] needs”; the “failure to allege counts of retaliation and breach of contract” until beyond the statute of limitation, resulting in dismissal of those claims; and the failure to prove, to the satisfaction of the court, counts for discrimination and wrongful termination, resulting in dismissal on the discrimination count and the court’s denial of an award for punitive damages. Wilson-Gaskins asserted that, as a result of Kaye’s actions, she incurred “substantial financial loss,” and therefore, she requested a “substantial reduction in [his] attorney fees.” On June 17, 2009, Kaye sent Wilson-Gaskins a letter by facsimile regarding “Disbursement of Funds/Settlement of Claims.” That letter provided, in relevant part:

In the past two days, you and I have engaged in a series of discussions regarding the disbursement of funds, settlement of your claims against GEICO, and allegations that I and The Kaye Law Firm somehow mishandled aspects of your