This article concerns unlawful termination settlements in the state of Georgia. It is rare for great claims to go to trial, for the reason that they generally settle out of trial. However, when they do not settle, there will be a lawsuit, where the employer or the employee will prevail.
The majority of these litigation cases incorporate mixed settlements, implying that they involved one particular, or a number of claims of unlawful termination attributable to firing in violation of public policy, gender discrimination, disability, constructive discharge, pregnancy, race, color, national origin, religion discrimination or workplace retaliation.
The table below presents a summary of the various types of claims filed along with their particular numbers in GA in 2017.
| State | 2017 Total Charges | % of Total USA Charges | Race | Sex | Natl Origin | Religion | Color | Retaliation All Statutes | TVII Retaliation | Age | Disability | EPA | GINA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 4894 | 5.80% | 1864 | 1596 | 334 | 183 | 147 | 2434 | 1943 | 807 | 1362 | 51 | 6 |
Source: https://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/state_17.cfm
Wrongful discharge cases & settlements in Georgia
$ 415,000
10/26/2007
Reyna and Ortega v. ConAgra Poultry Co. and Pilgrim’s Pride
Scarlet Reyna and Maria Ortega worked in the HR department of a poultry processing plant in Athens, Georgia operated by ConAgra. They started working there in 2001, and were fired on the same day in 2003.
They sued the company with a number of claims, including wrongful termination due to retaliation, hostile work environment, racial discrimination.
They were awarded $415,000 in damages. Case details, source
$ 50,000
1/4/2013
EEOC v Dayton Superior Corp
An employee was a quality control lab technician at one of Dayton Corp’s facilities in Braselton.
She had bipolar disease, and was prescribed medication by her doctor. One day at work, she had an adverse reaction to the medication, and her employer asked her to submit a drug test. The test showed traces of the medication in her body, no other substance was found. The company terminated her as soon as the test results came back, even though the medication was legally prescribed by a doctor.
The EEOC sued the employer for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, since the employer made an employment decision based on stereotypical assumptions about her medication.
The suit was settled with a consent decree, where the employee received $50,000. Source
$ 150,000
2/5/2014
EEOC v Jiuducy
Jiuducy is one of the country’s largest industrial labor staffing companies.
One of it’s female office administrators working in Cumming, GA received several sexually harassing phone calls from her supervisor. She reported this act of harassment to management, and an internal investigation was carried out. However, she was fired 3 days after she made her complaint, and she was escorted off premises by police officers.
This was a clear case of wrongful termination in retaliation for opposing sexual harassment. She reported this to the EEOC, which sued the company on the wrongfully terminates employee’s behalf.
The case was settled with a consent decree, where the fired employee received a settlement of $150,000. Source
$ 25,000
6/11/2013
Contrice Travis v Exel Inc.
Contrice Travis worked as an inventory controller at a warehouse and distribution company. She was recognized as an employee who was very knowledgeable in inventory control.
Her boss, was leaving the company, and he recommended Travis for the supervisor position. However, the general manager replied that he would never put a woman in that position. The GM put an inexperienced male into the position, whom Travis even had to train for the job.
The EEOC sued Exel Inc for sex discrimination, and a jury awarded $25,000 in compensatory damages and $475,000 in punitive damages. However, the punitive damage award was overturned by the Court of Appeals, as it found that there wasn’t enough evidence to conclude that sex harassment was widespread within the company. Source
$ 7,000,000
6/20/2007
27 deputies v Clayton County
Clayton County’s new sheriff, Sheriff Victor Hill fired 27 sheriff deputies on his first day on the job in January of 2005. Sheriff Hill was black, and most of the fired deputies were white.
The fired individuals all supported Sheriff Hill’s opponent in the 2004 Sheriff’s race.
They sued the country for wrongful termination, and a settlement was reached. They won their jobs back, and received a collective sum of $7,000,000 in damages. The settlement was paid for by Clayton County.
$ 60,000
6/29/2010
EEOC v State of Georgia’s Department of Community Health and McIntosh County Health Department
Margie Washington had worked for at the McIntosh County Health Department for over 25 years as an office manager.
The EEOC sued the state agency on behalf of the fired employee, and proved that she was fired due to her age. Wrongful termination due to age discrimination violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
The lawsuit was settled with a consent decree, and the agencies paid $60,000 in damages to the terminated employee. Source
$ 225,000
1/19/2017
Eric Walsh v Georgia Department of Public Health
Dr Eric Walsh applied for a managerial position at the State Department of Health to run the Northwest Georgia office.
He was offered the position, but the offer was withdrawn after a few videos surfaced on the internet, where Walsh was preaching against homosexuality and evolution. It turned out that Walsh had a 2nd job as a Seventh Day Adventist preacher.
Walsh sued the State Department for religious discrimination, which is in violation of Title VII. The Act states that religion cannot be a decisive factor in employment, be it with regard to existing employees, or applicants.
The case was settled for $225,000. Source
$ 90,000
3/7/2012
EEOC v Gerresheimer Inc.
Donna McLeod was hired by Gerresheimer, a plastics manufacturer in Peachtree City in 2008.
Eight months after she was hired, she made an internal complaint of gender-based wage discrimination. The report was followed up by an internal investigation, but the employer found no discrimination in wages.
McLeod was not satisfied with the results of the investigation, and filed a report with the EEOC. She was terminated 6 weeks later. It appears she was fired in retaliation for reporting what she believed to be sex discrimination.
The EEOC sued the company in her behalf for wrongful termination in retaliation for reporting discrimination. The case was settled with a consent decree, with a $90,000 settlement paid to Donna McLeod. Source
When looking at our catalog of wrongful termination settlements from Georgia, take into account that the large sums are the result of punitive compensation. Punitive damages are brought to dissuade corporations from carrying out the same kind of unjust conduct. Punitive damages are especially uncommon.
The vast majority of court cases will settle for anywhere from $20,000 to just a few hundred thousand dollars.
This directory of wrongful termination verdicts and settlements in GA was created for informative purposes. Even if you feel similarity to any of these claims, remember that each case is unique.
The average wrongful termination settlements in Georgia
It’s easy to understand that you want to check the amount of money you are likely to receive for your wrongful discharge lawsuit.
If you settle (or prevail in court), the amount of money you receive is ordinarily based on the following: the costs of finding a new job, medical expenses, lost wages, benefits lost, reason of termination and mental anguish. Punitive damages may also be awarded in rare cases, in the event the employer acted egregiously.
As you can observe from the sample claims in this article, presenting an average settlement for wrongful dismissal claims in GA is actually very difficult since each individual case is unique.
The average wrongful termination settlement in Georgia is between $4,000 and $100,000.
Attorneys are certainly beneficial when it comes to negotiating a better settlement.
The majority of jury awards are generally bigger, around $90,000 to $450,000. This is definitely one of the reasons employers choose to settle outside of court. Years of litigation, bearing its legal costs and possibly losing the court case in the end might be expensive.
Filing a wrongful discharge or discrimination claim in Georgia
If you think maybe you had been fired for some kind of illegal cause, below is information on what you should do.
First off, you’ll want to speak to a wrongful termination lawyer in Georgia to see whether you have got a claim worth going after.
Make certain you have enough time to file your claim, consider the Georgia laws of limitations regarding wrongful discharge.
Second, you’ll most likely need to file a timely claim with the EEOC in Atlanta.
Here are the steps you need to take to file a wrongful termination claim.
