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Attorney who fought for Akron firefighters passes
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporters
Published: December 31, 2015
Family, friends and colleagues are mourning the sudden loss of Akron attorney Christy B. Bishop, who passed away in her home in the Portage Lakes area of Coventry Township on Dec. 2.
Her death occurred hours after settling significant portions of a prolonged lawsuit with the city of Akron over its fire department promotion tests and just days before the one-year anniversary of the death of her husband and law partner, Dennis R. “Denny” Thompson.
Bishop was 55.
“We were like sisters,” said Alison Maxim, who first became friends with Bishop at Case Elementary School in Akron. “We had so much fun over the years. We laughed all the time.
“She was a good friend,” said Maxim. “I miss her so much.”
“Christy was such a compassionate person,” said Bishop’s longtime paralegal Tammy Byers. “She loved helping people and she loved the work that she and Denny were doing to help firefighters. The two of them poured their hearts into their cases.
“After Christy lost Denny, I think she lost her direction. She existed but she did not live.”
Byers said Bishop had not been feeling well for the past few months.
“She would have good days and bad days,” said Byers. “She kept saying she would go see a doctor. I don’t think she had any idea she was on death’s doorstep. She was so much more than a boss to me. She was my friend.”
Born in Akron on March 10, 1960, Bishop and her brother Bill grew up on the west side of the city, attending Firestone High School.
“My sister and I were very close until I turned 13,” said Bill. “Around that time, our parents split and I went to live with my dad and Christy went to live with my mother. We still saw each other but not as a family.
“I remember how much Christy loved animals,” said Bill. “She always had a cat and sometimes a turtle, fish and mice. Later in life she had a number of cats. It was funny because Denny was a dog person. Eventually he came around though and even had a favorite cat.”
Bishop attended The University of Akron, earning a bachelor’s degree in communication and argument in 1985 and a master’s degree in communication and rhetoric in 1991.
From 1981 to 1986, she worked as a reporter and staff writer for a number of local newspapers and co-owned AdVantage, a freelance advertising organization. In 1986, she assisted in the launch of “Great Lakes Sailor,” a monthly consumer magazine, serving as its associate/managing editor. She also taught editing, argumentation, public speaking and mass communication/media at The University of Akron.
She met Denny Thompson in the early ‘80s, while he was attending The University of Akron School of Law. The two were married in 1988.
Bill said the couple threw elaborate Christmas Eve parties.
“Their house would be filled with family and friends,” said Bill. “They loved to play host. The food and snacks were wonderful and about halfway through the party, they would put out the word that Santa had arrived with gifts.
“Despite being so busy, they hand picked gifts for 40 or 50 people and they put a lot of thought into the gifts. The gifts were things you would get yourself. They did this for years.
“Christy would dress up as an elf and their friend was Santa. After their friend passed away, Denny was Santa. It was a night I’m sure anyone who was there will remember.”
Bill said after Thompson’s law practice was up and running, his sister started lending a hand in the office. “She learned so much that Denny told her she was practically doing the work of a lawyer so she should consider getting her law degree.”
Bishop received her juris doctor from The University of Akron School of Law in 2002.
Their firm, Thompson and Bishop, developed a nationwide discrimination law and harassment practice, which specialized in representing public safety forces, especially firefighters, in the areas of disparate impact and treatment, including promotional testing and hiring.
The Ohio State Bar Association certified them both as employment law specialists. Bishop was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Court of International Trade, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the northern and southern districts of Ohio, the Ohio Supreme Court and all lower Ohio trial and appeals courts.
In 2006, they filed a federal lawsuit (William Howe et al., v. City of Akron) against the city of Akron on behalf of 23 firefighters.
The suit alleged racial and age discrimination in the 2004 Akron fire department promotion tests for lieutenant and captain. About two years later, they secured a damages award of almost $1.9 million for the Akron firefighters, which the city appealed.
All of the Howe clients working in 2011 were promoted to the next rank and damages were set to be re-determined.
As the case dragged on, Thompson’s health worsened.
In April 2014, Thompson suffered two strokes within four hours. Although he fought his way back, he passed away on Dec. 8 on a couch in his home, a scenario that friends and family say was eerily similar to the way that Bishop died.
“To my understanding they found Christy next to the same couch where Denny passed away,” said Byers.
The day before Bishop passed away, she spent nine hours with co-counsel Bruce Elfvin and their clients before U.S. District Court Judge Sara Lioi, hammering out a $1.04 million back pay settlement for the firefighters.
“Christy asked me to drive her to court that day because she was not feeling well,” said Byers. “The last words she said to me are ‘have I told you how much I love you?’
“I think the settlement conference was very difficult for Christy,” said Byers. “She had to go back and read over all the documents in the case. I think it took her back in time to the days when she and Denny were a team.”
Elfvin said Bishop appeared to be “more frail that day in court than she had in the past.
“Losing Denny was very hard on her. She had to take over the business, deal with her spouse’s estate and try to keep up with all the cases,” said Elfvin, an attorney at Elfvin, Besser, Royer & Torch. “Before Denny passed away, Christy did most of the brief writing, which was her forte, and he handled the trials. After his death, she had to do all of it. I’m sure it added a lot of extra pressure.”
Elfvin said he made sure to speak with her as much as he could so she would not feel alone or isolated.
“I was really hoping she would turn the corner this month and get on the better end of things,” said Elfvin. “She and I were co-counsel on two other firefighter cases too. I was hoping we could conclude our business and then just be friends.”
When Bishop left the courthouse on Dec. 1, the Howe case had not been completely settled. “We agreed on the back pay and pre-judgment interest but we had not come to terms on attorneys’ fees and out of pocket expenses,” said Elfvin. As of the publication of this story, the remaining issues have not been resolved.
Elfvin said when court concluded, Bishop asked retired Akron Fire Captain William Howe and retired Akron Fire Lieutenant Greg Snyder to take her home.
“Throughout the day Christy kept saying she did not feel well,” said Howe. “We had to walk a couple of blocks to get my truck so she waited at the courthouse. When I got back, she was being assisted by two attorneys. I had to physically pick her up and put her into the truck.
“On the way home, I told her I was concerned about her health,” said Howe. “She had lost a ton of weight since losing Denny. But when we got to her house she got out of the truck with no problem and she seemed fine. She said she was going to feed the cats and get herself something to eat.
“As I was backing out of the driveway, I saw her put one cat outside. The next day I called the office and told her paralegal to make sure she got help because she was not doing good.
“Tammy, Bruce (Elfvin) and a friend of hers tried to call her and she did not answer. She was later found dead.
“It’s strange,” said Howe. “She was so relieved to complete the case. It’s almost like she got to the end and said I’m done. She was a really neat, smart woman.”
Maxim said a few days before Bishop’s death she found some notes the two had written to each other in junior high and high school. “I called her up and read them and we laughed. This last year was so hard on both of us. It was cool at the end knowing that we could laugh like we used to.
“There are so many things that made Christy special,” said Maxim. “I don’t think anyone knows that she had a beautiful singing voice and she could play the piano by ear.”
Maxim said Bishop never had time to mourn the loss of her husband because she was busy taking care of the law practice.
“The one-year anniversary of his death was coming up and I was going to make a pact to stay with her so she would not be alone. Her last message to me was that even though ‘we’ve been through a lot this past year, I sometimes feel like we’re going to be okay,’” said Maxim.
Bishop leaves behind her mother Janice L. Bishop, brother Bill and six nieces and nephews.
A celebration of Bishop’s life is scheduled for Jan. 17 at the Schermesser Funeral Home at 600 E. Turkeyfoot Lake Rd. in Akron from 2 to 4 p.m.
In the meantime, Byers said she is working with Elfvin to identify Bishop’s remaining cases. “Taking care of her clients is the last thing I can do for her.”
“I am going to make sure that Christy’s cases are assigned to other competent counsel,” said Elfvin. “Finding the right attorneys will take time.”