Fulton County commissioner Natalie Hall is the subject of a complaint to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging she forced a former chief of staff into a sexual relationship under threat of being fired.
A letter from an assistant county attorney to the enforcement supervisor of the EEOC’s Atlanta office says Calvin A. Brock, Jr. filed the complaint of discrimination against Hall on March 4, 2021.
The complaint says Hall placed a tracking device in Brock’s car after he broke off the relationship, according to the letter and two supporting documents, which were obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution under the Georgia Open Records Act.
Hall eventually fired Brock, the letter states. She is the commissioner for District 4, which encompasses almost entirely the city of Atlanta.
Brock wrote he was “subjected to unwanted sexual advancement by Natalie Hall, Commissioner.”
“I was forced into a relationship for fear of losing my job,” Brock wrote in one of the supporting documents. “After I decided to end the relationship, Ms. Hall hid tracking devices in my vehicle to track my personal and professional conversations which caused a hostile work environment.”
Brock says in the complaint that he refused Hall’s several requests for him to resign or transfer, according to the letter. Brock was fired on Sept. 2, 2020.
The complaint alleges that Brock’s termination is an infringement upon his Title VII rights, which is a portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that protects workers against discrimination. It isn’t clear if taxpayers would pay for her legal defense, but the county attorney’s office is involved.
Hall’s current chief of staff, Christopher Thomas, said the county attorney has advised Hall not to make any statements about the situation. Brock’s attorney was not immediately available Monday to give further details about the case or its status.
Officials with the county and the EEOC declined to comment.
“We decline to comment as this is a personnel-related legal matter,” county spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt wrote in an email.
EEOC spokesman James Ryan said the agency is prohibited by law from even confirming that a complaint has been filed, and any documents related to it are confidential.
Hall was first elected in 2017, and was reelected in 2020. She has had a bare-knuckled approach to governing, sometimes sparring with Democrats as well as Republicans on the commission.
Hall portrays herself as a champion of her constituents. She does not shy away from criticizing her fellow commissioners or anyone who comes before the board, including the IT director when she said her laptop wasn’t working.
Hall often describes herself as a “process-oriented” person who focused on the facts.
Brock wrote that he began working for Hall on May 30, 2018.
Around that time, Hall was in the process of separating from her husband of 19 years, Kwanza Hall — who held U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ seat for the remaining couple weeks of the late Congressman’s term. Kwanza Hall, a former Atlanta councilman and mayoral candidate, is currently running for Georgia Lieutenant Governor.
The two married Oct. 5, 1999 and separated Nov. 19, 2018, according to Fulton County Superior Court documents. A judge finalized the divorce on Oct. 27, 2020.
Natalie Hall was elected in 2017 after the death of Commissioner Joan P. Garner, for whom Hall worked as chief of staff. She is up for reelection in 2024.
Credit: WSBTV Videos
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