In a rebuke to the administration of former DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones, a federal appeals court has denied the county’s request to dismiss a long-running, reverse-discrimination lawsuit.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in 2004 by four current and former employees of the county Parks and Recreation Department. They alleged DeKalb had a plan to harass and discriminate against white managers and claimed Jones, who took office in 2001 as the county’s first black CEO, said he wanted a “darker administration” to reflect “the new DeKalb County.”
Lawyers for DeKalb appealed, asking for dismissal. But in a ruling issued Friday, a three-judge panel sent the suit back to the trial court.
The order by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals says that in 2001 DeKalb “embarked on a wholesale plan to replace its white managers with African Americans.” It also says there is “shocking” evidence of “an overt and unabashed pattern of discrimination.”
The judges made one decision favorable to the county, giving immunity to former DeKalb Executive Assistant Richard Stogner, the lone white defendant, for actions he took that led to the elimination of the one of the plaintiff’s jobs.
Chris Anulewicz, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the overall decision is a good one for his clients because it means a trial could start in about eight months.
“We’ve been waiting for two years for this,” he said.
The appeals court ruling says evidence showed “compellingly” that Jones “was the architect of a racially discriminatory scheme” and that “unquestionably, he spawned the claims the plaintiffs have brought against him.”
Jones could not be reached for comment. His successor as CEO, Burrell Ellis, said in a written statement that the appellate decision was not a ruling on the merits of the case and that he was consulting with the county attorney to decide how to respond.
The suit was filed on behalf of Herbert Lowe, an African-American manager then in the parks department, and three white former managers there — Michael Bryant, John Drake and Becky Kelley. The plaintiffs claimed that Lowe was asked to “dig up dirt” on the white managers so they could be fired or forced to quit.
The lawsuit says Jones and other county officials told Lowe they wanted to replace the white managers because of their race and that Jones asked Lowe to “do what was necessary for the team.” Lowe refused, the suit says, and his job was eliminated.
The lawsuit claims the white managers were denied pay raises, were excluded from department meetings and were told they could no longer have contact with the media because officials wanted to present a “black administration” to the public.
The three white managers were eventually demoted or lost their jobs.
One of the defendants is out of a job, too. Ellis fired parks director Marilyn Boyd Drew in July after her department failed to ensure that county swimmers were registered for a state competition.
The other defendants, besides Jones, are Morris Williams, who was Jones’ assistant county administrator and is now the chief of staff for the county commission; and Joe Stone, the director of human resources. Neither Williams nor Stone returned messages seeking comment.
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