On September 27, 2005, the Atlanta and Birmingham offices of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit under Title VII against Atlanta Gastroenterology Associates, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The EEOC alleged that the defendants had violated the complainant's rights by discharging her for refusing to discriminate on the basis of race in her management decisions.

On November 23, 2005, the complainant intervened as a party plaintiff in the litigation. On August 15, 2006, the defendants filed two motions for summary judgment. The first motion was withdrawn sixteen days later, and the second summary judgment motion was denied by the court on February 16, 2007.

On June 26, 2007, the parties went to mediation and reached a settlement. They filed a consent decree with the court on August 9, 2007, and the court dismissed the case. Under the consent decree, the defendants agreed to pay the complainant $145,000 in unspecified damages. The decree enjoined the defendants from violating Title VII, and it required them to post notice of the anti-discrimination laws in a conspicuous place in the workplace. Within 60 days of the entry of the consent decree, the defendant was to train all of its management staff on the requirements of Title VII with respect to equal opportunity and anti-discrimination in employment. Every six months, the defendants were to submit a report to the EEOC Regional Attorney detailing any complaints of adverse employment actions and describing the defendant's response to those complaints. The decree was to remain in effect for 2 years, and if the defendants were found to be in violation of the agreement, the length of the decree would be extended, and the parties would re-enter mediation. The docket sheet does not show any further enforcement; the case was presumably closed in 2009.

Kristen Sagar - 04/09/2008
- 06/10/2017


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