Babineaux v. Foster

Tysonia Babineaux (plaintiff) hired Douglas Brown, a former assistant city attorney, to sue the City of Hammond and its mayor (defendants) for employment discrimination after her termination. The city moved to disqualify Brown, pointing to a similar grievance Babineaux had filed two years earlier, during which the mayor had copied Brown on two letters discussing a confidential response to her complaint. Brown countered that the discrimination he was now suing over occurred after he left the city attorney's office, offered to limit the complaint to that later period, and argued Babineaux's right to her chosen counsel outweighed any connection to the old grievance.