The county is expected to file a motion in federal court by Tuesday to dismiss a discrimination lawsuit filed by a former E-911 dispatcher.
The motion is the latest action in the case, which was filed in September 2009 by 11-year former dispatcher Julia A. Burgin of Columbus.
This is the second federal lawsuit allegeding race discrimination against the Columbus and Lowndes County E-911 board in the past two years.
The other lawsuit, filed by former E-911 Director Jessie Colvin in July 2009, claims she was fired because of her race and sex.
Colvin names as defedants the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, then-E-911 Board President Beverly Broocks, then-county administrator Nicholas Hairston Jr., and board members Sheriff Butch Howard, Bernice Lile and Columbus Fire Chief Kenneth Moore.
A motion for summary judgment is currently pending in U.S. District Court.
Colvin, the first female and African American director, claims she was fired after questions were raised about her job performance and was replaced by a white man, according to her complaint.
Burgin claims in her initial complaint that she was fired in January 2009 by Broocks because of her race, her age and in retaliation for remarks she made to a police officer about her white neighbor.
Broocks declined to comment on a lawsuit prior to a verdict.
Burgin”s lawsuit stems from an incident in January 2009, when her son backed over a garbage can, knocking trash into the yard of her neighbor, Richard Kidder.
Kidder allegedly called her son a racial slur and told him to pick up the garbage, according to the complaint. They began arguing, which led to Kidder calling 911 while Burgin”s son called her at work.
A police dispatcher called the responding officer and asked him to call E-911, the complaint claims. Burgin told the officer that her neighbor “should be thankful that he was not speaking to my oldest son, because he would not have let Mr. Kidder speak to him in such a manner.”
Neither Burgin nor Kidder could be reached for comment.
According to Burgin, Broocks told her she was being fired “because of the way I spoke to a police officer.”
But in her complaint, Burgin says she was fired for a number of reasons besides her conversation.
“I believe that I was fired because of my race and in retaliation for this white man,” she says in the complaint. “The E-911 Board is 99 (percent) white and are all known to dislike blacks. There is only one black person on the Board.”
J.D. Brooks is the only African-American sitting on the nine-member board.
Burgin also said Director Sherri Fancher was promoted over her because of race, that she was replaced by a 30-year-old white woman and that a white employee, now retired, was promoted after he was accused of sexually harassing two black women at E-911.
Fancher could not be reached for comment.
At most, Burgin should have received a written reprimand for her conversation with the officer, in accordance with the E-911 employee handbook, she said.
Although Burgin is seeking monetary reimbursement from both the county and E-911, she did not say how much in her complaint.
In their reply to Burgin”s complaint, the defendants argue that Lowndes County is not a proper defendant in the case, that Burgin failed to “exhaust administrative remedies in a timely manner” and that her conduct, not E-911, is responsible for any of her injuries or damages.
The defendants also deny Burgin”s claim that a written reprimand was the proper disciplinary action.
If the defendants” motion for summary judgment is denied, the case will be heard before U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers in Oxford at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 13.
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