Paul Howard, former Fulton County district attorney, did not harass his former employe Cathy Carter because of her sex, a federal jury decided Friday afternoon.
It took about three hours for the eight-man, four-woman jury to decide the civil case. Carter accused Howard of sexual harassment and retaliation during a three-day trial in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
The jury’s decision that Carter was not harassed due to her gender rendered irrelevant subsequent questions on whether Howard created a hostile work environment and whether Carter should be awarded damages. A clerk’s order says Carter must pay Howard’s legal fees.
A key piece of evidence for both sides was a call Carter secretly recorded Aug. 24, 2018, between herself and Howard. It featured graphic sexual references, with Howard seemingly pressing Carter to have sex while she laughed and deflected him. Carter told the court she “accidentally” recorded the call.
Both sides acknowledged a sexual relationship and longtime “flirty friendship,” but disagreed on when that relationship took place and whether it was welcomed by Carter.
Howard was district attorney from 1997 through 2020. Carter worked for him from 2000 to 2012, when she took early retirement; then returned to his office in a different job in 2014, according to testimony.
She was fired in June 2019 after ending her unofficial relationship with Howard, her lawsuit says. She filed suit in April 2020.
Carter alleged that their sexual relationship took place while she worked for Howard, but he said it happened before then and ended prior to her employment in the DA’s office.
Sexual banter between them, however, continued. Carter said it was unwelcome and that she played along because she feared for her job, while Howard maintained it was characteristic joking between longtime friends and that she never indicated otherwise.
Carter was arrested twice in early 2019 on firearm offenses, and in April of that year was placed on an “improvement plan” for chronic lateness and absences, according to court filings.
But her attendance problems continued, Howard’s attorneys said; and her June 2019 termination letter cited her arrests.
Carter asserted that those were not offenses worthy of firing, and that her termination and other actions were retaliation for ending her claimed sexual acquiescence to Howard in late 2018.
Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash heard the case at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in downtown Atlanta.
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