A former Fulton County Human Services deputy director has been awarded $1.2 million in a race and gender discrimination case.

A jury already determined that Douglas Carl was snubbed for a director’s job because he is male and white, awarding him $300,000 in back wages. Now a judge has upped the sum by awarding Carl front pay, pension loss and other compensation.

The sum could climb another $500,000 when the judge decides whether to award attorneys’ fees, according to Carl’s attorney, A. Lee Parks.

During the trial, former County Manager Tom Andrews admitted calling employees “black marbles” and “white marbles” in weighing personnel decisions. The jury also heard heard secondhand testimony that Commissioner Emma Darnell played a role, allegedly telling a deputy county manager that she had “too many white boys” in Human Services and the new director should be black and female.

Darnell denied making the statement through the county attorney.

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Fulton DA Fani Willis (center) with Nathan J. Wade (right), the special prosecutor she hired to manage the Trump case and had a romantic relationship with, at a news conference announcing charges against President-elect Donald Trump and others in Atlanta, Aug. 14, 2023. Georgia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, upheld an appeals court's decision to disqualify Willis from the election interference case against Trump and his allies. (Kenny Holston/New York Times)

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