An alleged tug of war over a handful of paperwork has left a city school employee with a sprained wrist and the wife of the Baltimore schools superintendent charged with a crime carrying possible prison time, police and court officials say.
Freda J. Amprey, wife of Superintendent Walter G. Amprey and head of the school system's Employee Assistance and Wellness program, was charged yesterday in a criminal summons with common-law battery after allegedly wrenching personal notes from the left hand of Deborah L. Disney, according to police.
The charge carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Ms. Disney, 33, is a social worker, coordinator in the wellness program, and the wife of a city homicide detective. A Southwestern District Court commissioner issued the summons after hearing Ms. Disney's allegation that she was assaulted Wednesday by Mrs. Amprey.
Although Ms. Disney's injury was not serious -- she complained that pain developed in her wrist after Mrs. Amprey, 45, grabbed the papers -- the Baltimore Teachers' Union has rallied behind Ms. Disney and expects to file a grievance.
"Obviously this took a lot of courage on [Ms. Disney's] part. . . . This is the bosses' wife," said Linda Prudente, a teacher's union spokeswoman.
But Mrs. Amprey said she is the target of "trumped-up charges" amid a scheme devised to discredit her.
"I'm upset with these allegations against me. There was no altercation that occurred between Debbie Disney and me," Mrs. Amprey said last night. "She had planned to bring about, or stage an action, regarding whether or not she would be able to continue to work in my office."
Mrs. Amprey said Ms. Disney is on loan to her office and had complained openly about her working hours. "She made the remark recently that she was going to go down fighting," Mrs. Amprey said.
The papers in question were Ms. Disney's notes on a stress management workshop to be held that day. According to a police report, Mrs. Amprey demanded in her office at Edmondson Senior High School that Ms. Disney turn over the notes.
"Deborah Disney explained to Freda Amprey that the papers were personal papers and Freda Amprey could not have them," the report said.
"Deborah Disney attempted to exit from Freda Amprey's office when Freda Amprey grabbed the papers and then grabbed the victim's wrist. Freda Amprey then wrenched the victim's wrist, attempting to loosen the victim's grip and take the papers," the report said.
"Freda Amprey continued the attempt to take the papers and was successful. She hurt the victim's wrist and thereby loosened her grip on the papers. The victim . . . then ran into a co-worker's office and the incident ended," the report said.
Sam Ringgold, a city police spokesman, said the investigating officer advised Ms. Disney to seek her own criminal complaint. The officer didn't bring any charges at the time because "he did not witness anything, and there were no visible signs of injury," Mr. Ringgold said.
"It's our procedure in a case like that to instruct the person to seek a complaint through the commissioner," Mr. Ringgold said. The District Court commissioner issued the summons and set a hearing date for Dec. 28 at Wabash District Court, he said.
Mrs. Amprey said she took the notes from Ms. Disney, but that she did not wrench them from her hand.
"All I said was, 'Debbie, let me have the notes. I'll make a copy and you can have a copy back because I'm going to do the stress management training today,' " Mrs. Amprey said. "Then she went into a staged act. It seemed like a presentation."
The charge against Mrs. Amprey is the latest in a string of criticisms against the superintendent's wife since she took over the employee assistance program in February.
Critics said employees would be reluctant to discuss workplace concerns, fearing that Mrs. Amprey -- who is paid about $65,000 a year -- might tell her husband.
"We have heard indications that there are problems in that department, and people are dissatisfied and unhappy under [Mrs. Amprey's] leadership," Ms. Prudente said.
Ms. Disney, who has been a school social worker for two years, deferred comments until today when she and union officials will hold a news conference. Her husband, veteran Detective D. Martin Disney, called Mrs. Amprey's actions "Totally unjustifiable, no matter how you look at it. We will be filing a formal grievance [today.]"
When asked about the incident Wednesday night, Superintendent Amprey had no comment.