Former Augusta Parks employee wins $800k ADA discrimination settlement

Virtually 10 years to the day since Melinda Pearson was demoted from her job as Augusta Parks and Recreation operations supervisor, she received a $800,000 settlement in a lawsuit contending she was injured and discriminated in opposition to by town.

“Could 2, 2012, is once they did it. After I acquired the decision at this time I acquired choked up,” stated Pearson, a former profession authorities worker and the daughter of longtime elections director Linda Beazley.

After a closed-door session Tuesday, the Augusta Fee accredited the settlement 9-1 with Commissioner Brandon Garrett opposed. Commissioner John Clarke stated attorneys suggested town might lose as much as $1.5 million if the case went to trial.

“This factor has been happening for years now,” Clarke stated. “The $800,000 would have been a lot better than going to a jury, and what they have been just about assured to present them.”

In 2012:Demoted recreation worker decided to “clear her identify”

Melinda Pearson claims her demotion was a lot harsher 

Pearson, represented by lawyer John P. Batson, claimed in her lawsuit her demotion was a lot harsher than how others have been handled and violated the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

A 29-year, salaried worker with present accidents, she had lately returned from 10 weeks of donated sick depart when then-Recreation Director Tom Beck accredited her time card, which confirmed her on the job for 4 days whereas she was off.

Beck was fired by the fee for approving the time card and no different said cause. He claimed he’d inherited the observe of paying recreation workers for unrecorded comp time after they labored additional hours at metropolis occasions.

Beck additionally sued, claiming he was publicly accused of “time card fraud” and fired for safeguarding Pearson’s proper to be paid, however a decide dismissed the lawsuit in 2015.

Demoted, Pearson was assigned to be a handbook laborer, and, regardless of informing her supervisor she had prior work-related again accidents, was made to kneel on the bottom and chisel tile for days on finish and work as a roofer, in keeping with the lawsuit.

The actions aggravated her accidents however nobody within the division requested about them or how they may very well be accommodated beneath the Individuals with Disabilities Act, it stated.

Different information:Does Augusta have too many parks? Metropolis considers reducing ties with some

In February 2013 Pearson realized she’d been terminated. Town’s request for personnel motion claimed she voluntarily resigned, however was lacking her signature, and she or he was afforded no enchantment course of.

Case supplies included a whole bunch of filings and quite a few depositions of metropolis workers about how they dealt with depart requests and different personnel issues. At one level in the course of the case, Pearson obtained GPS data displaying 5 Recreation workers had been paid greater than $20,000 for “unproductive hours.”

Pearson stated Tuesday her husband’s work in Iraq helped her afford to maintain the lawsuit going. At one level a U.S. District decide granted abstract judgment for town, however she appealed, and the Georgia Courtroom of Appeals overturned the ruling, sending the case again for trial.

Now nearly 60, Pearson stated she’s prepared to maneuver on.

“I can begin the subsequent chapter of my life. I’m simply wanting ahead to placing this behind me,” she stated.