BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland’s highest court has ruled against a former head of the state’s public defender office who was challenging her 2009 firing.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled against Nancy Forster, who was fired in a dispute with the Office of the Public Defender Board of Trustees. Forster was fired because she would not comply with demands to overhaul the agency.

The court did not rule Tuesday on Forster’s claims that she was wrongly fired because the changes the board was seeking were illegal and would have harmed clients.

A seven-judge majority ruled against her for procedural reasons. In a separate opinion, two judges said they agreed with the outcome but for different reasons.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)