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Press Release 06-29-2010

Georgia Government Agencies To Pay $60,000 To Settle EEOC Age Discrimination Suit

Federal Agency Charged That State and County Government Agencies Terminated Employee Because of Her Age

ATLANTA  – The State of Georgia's  Department of Community Health and one of its local county districts, McIntosh  County Health Department, will pay $60,000 to settle an age discrimination  lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the  agency announced today.

  The EEOC  originally filed its lawsuit in this case on September 12, 2008 in U.S.  District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Brunswick Division (Case  No: 2:08-CV-120-LGW-JEG) against the McIntosh County Health Department. However, in its amended complaint, filed on  February 10, 2009, the EEOC charged that both the state and county government  agencies acted unlawfully when they terminated Margie Washington from her office  manager position with the McIntosh County Health Department because of her  age. At the time of her discharge, Washington had worked  for the health department for over 25 years.

McIntosh County Health Department is a part of the  Coastal Health District. Coastal Health  District is an administrative district of the Georgia Department of Community  Health's Division of Public Health, which is comprised of eight county health  departments in southeast Georgia.  The Georgia Department of Community  Health, formerly known as the Georgia Department of Human Resources, employs  over 6,000 people throughout the state of Georgia.

The  consent decree settling the suit, in addition to the monetary relief, includes  provisions for equal employment opportunity training, reporting, and posting of  anti-discrimination notices.

"There  is no excuse for firing en employee simply because of her age," said EEOC  Regional Attorney Robert Dawkins. "Such  a practice is counterproductive and illegal, and the EEOC will continue to  combat such practices."

The  EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further  information about the EEOC is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.