Former Fulton employee wins $300,000 verdict

A federal jury in Atlanta has awarded $300,000 in lost wages to Douglas Carl, who filed a race discrimination suit against Fulton County and former county manager Thomas Andrews after Carl was passed over for promotion.

Carl, who is white, was denied promotion to be the county’s human services director in 2007 because top county officials wanted to fill the position with an African-American female, Andrew Coffman, one of Carl’s lawyers, said. The trial judge will now determine how much the county owes Carl for future lost wages, pension benefits and attorneys fees, Coffman said. Carl, the former deputy director of human services, worked for the county for about 17 years until his position was eliminated in early 2010.