A U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that MARTA must pay a half-million dollars to a former employee who claimed he was fired in retaliation for making a racial discrimination complaint.
Darryl P. Connelly, a white man, was fired in 2009 from his job as director of transit-oriented development because “his services were no longer needed,” the transit authority reported to the Georgia Department of Labor. However, he was not charged with poor performance, insubordination, or violating any company policies or procedures.
Connelly claimed that his immediate supervisor, Cheryl King, assistant general manager of planning, often visited and joked with black employees, but not white ones, and that she sometimes referred to herself as a “mean black bitch.”
On June 15, 2009, when he and King met to discuss pending projects, King allegedly brought up some complaints she had received about Connelly.
According to the lawsuit, Connelly said he thought King had been “railroading him” since she began working at the transit authority. He also stated, according to the lawsuit, that he was going to consult an attorney about making a discrimination complaint.
He was fired about three months later. His job remained open until March 2011, when MARTA merged his former position, director of transit-oriented development, with director of regional services to create a new job, director of development and regional coordination.
A white man filled that position.
The district court dismissed Connelly’s claims of racial discrimination against King and MARTA before trial, but allowed the case to proceed on the claim of retaliation.
A jury on May 17, 2013, decided that his supervisor was not liable, but that MARTA was. They awarded Connelly $500,000 for lost pay and benefits and emotional distress.
However, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia overturned the verdict, reasoning that the verdicts against the supervisor and transit agency were inconsistent.
On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit sided with the trial court and reinstated the penalty against MARTA.
Steve Wolfe, the attorney who represented Connelly, said his client lost his job at the height of the recession and housing crash. It took him a long time to find work, and when he did it required him to move his family to Connecticut.
“He’s doing much better now, and obviously very pleased with the result (of the case), like we are,” Wolfe said.
MARTA could still appeal to the entire 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, or ultimately to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We’re pleased that the court affirmed the dismissal of the racial discrimination claim,” MARTA spokesman Lyle Harris said Friday. “We’re reviewing the decision regarding the reinstated retaliation claim and will weigh our options in terms of any further legal action.”
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