Two of the eight librarians who won a $17-million reverse-discrimination lawsuit in January 2002 against the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System have filed another federal suit against the system, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported December 3.
Maureen Kelly and Mary Starck say the library board retaliated against them for being “outspoken leaders” in the first lawsuit, which charged three trustees and Director Mary Kaye Hooker with demoting Caucasian librarians from senior-management posts to make way for people of color to be promoted to those jobs. The new suit says Kelly was demoted at the end of 2002 as a manager in the central branch, while Starck was passed over for a senior librarian position even though she was the most qualified applicant.
Fulton County lawyer O. V. Brantley countered that officials had promptly investigated the librarians’ complaints and taken action. The board had found merit in Starck’s complaint and offered her the job, which she accepted; an investigation into Kelly’s situation revealed “no finding of retaliation or discrimination,” Brantley said.
The library system is appealing the first suit’s $17-million judgment to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Posted December 12, 2003.