On June 5th, 1999, the United States Department of Justice ("D.O.J.") filed a lawsuit under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., against the City of Alma and Bacon County, Georgia in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. The DOJ sought injunctive relief, alleging that the defendant violated Title VII by discriminating against female employees because of sex.

The defendants Alma and Bacon jointly operate an entity known as the Alma-Bacon County Fire and Emergency Medical Service, which provides firefighting and emergency medial services throughout the city of Alma and Bacon County. The DOJ alleged that the discrimination against female employees and female applicants took the form of failing or refusing to hire or consider females for hire into full-time Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician and/or Firefighter/Paramedic positions and failing or refusing to take appropriate action to correct the effects of the discrimination.

Their motion for intervention having been granted by the Court, plaintiff-intervenors allege similar claims of discrimination in their complaint dated July 15, 1999.

Though the Defendants denied the allegations, the parties resolved all issues raised in the complaints amicably.

On November 18, 1999, the Court (Judge William T. Moore, Jr.) entered a Consent Decree resolving all issues raised in the complaints of the plaintiff and plaintiff-intervenors. The Decree ordered both general and specific injunctive relief, including the recruitment of qualified female applicants and extensive record-keeping requirements. The Court maintained jurisdiction for five years pursuant to the entry of the decree.

Jennifer Hau - 10/15/2007


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