The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (Albany Division) has dismissed claims of racial discrimination and retaliation filed against a local restaurant by a former employee. The restaurant is represented by Louis Hatcher and Alfreda Sheppard.

The plaintiff brought claims pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1981, alleging she was discriminated against on the basis of her race and was retaliated against by being discharged from employment when she complained of the discriminatory treatment. The restaurant denied the plaintiff was subjected to any discriminatory treatment, and indeed, had employed the plaintiff on two separate occasions. The restaurant also denied that plaintiff had ever made any complaints relating to discrimination, or that her termination was related to any such complaints. Instead, the plaintiff was terminated for her poor performance, not her race.

After conducting discovery in the case, Mr. Hatcher and Ms. Sheppard filed a motion for summary judgment asking that the plaintiff’s case be dismissed for failure to make out a prima facie case of discrimination or retaliation. The Middle District Court agreed and granted summary judgment to the restaurant on all claims. In addition, the District Court awarded the restaurant its costs of defending the action.

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia has granted summary judgment in favor of a former automobile dealership against claims of racial discrimination filed by two plaintiffs. The dealership is represented by Louis Hatcher and Alfreda Sheppard.

The plaintiffs claimed they were subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of their race. The plaintiffs also claimed their terminations from employment were the result of retaliation for having allegedly made complaints of racial discrimination. The dealership vehemently denied it discriminated against the employees, and contended the plaintiffs were terminated for violations of the dealership’s policies. The dealership also denied the plaintiffs had made any complaints of racial discrimination. After conducting discovery in the case, Mr. Hatcher and Ms. Sheppard filed a motion for summary judgment asking that the plaintiffs’ claims be dismissed. The Middle District Court agreed and granted summary judgment to the dealership on all but one small claim, which was subsequently dismissed by the plaintiffs upon additional proof submitted by the dealership. In addition, the District Court awarded the dealership its costs of defending the action.

The plaintiffs appealed the grant of summary judgment to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, but subsequently dismissed the appeal with prejudice.

Joseph Dent represented an aviation company which was seeking permission to build an air strip in Mitchell County from the Mitchell County Board of Commissioners in July of 2012. The aviation company planned to operate its crop dusting service from the location because existing air strip needed to be relocated due to Georgia Power’s route for new overhead power lines. Had the special use application been denied, Georgia Power would have taken an alternate route down Colonial Road, disrupting the residents in this area with large, permanent power poles. Mr. Dent provided a picture of the power poles and information about the cost of maintaining overhead lines as opposed to underground lines as supporting arguments for the relocation of the airstrip. Mr. Dent also addressed concerns pertaining to pesticide drift and noise complaints raised by citizens opposing the application. Despite the strong opposition, the Board of Commissioners approved the application which allowed the airstrip to be relocated as requested by the aviation company.

A husband and wife were involved in a devastating broadside collision in Dalton, Georgia during which only the husband survived. Joseph Dent pursued claims for the wrongful death of the wife and the injuries sustained by the husband, and he demanded policy limits from the insurance company covering the at fault driver. However, the insurance company failed to timely respond to the offer leaving them exposed to bad faith claims. Mr. Dent filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Whitfield County. The week prior to trial, a settlement for all claims was reached with payment in excess of $500,000, which was over 2.6 times the amount of the policy limits.

On May 5, 2010, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of Section 1983 claims against the Ben Hill School District and several teachers and administrators. John M. Stephenson represented the School District and several individual administrators and teachers in a suit filed by the parents of two students who claimed a teacher and two administrators used excessive force against their sons and then retaliated against them after the parents complained about their alleged actions. Plaintiffs claimed policies of the administration and School Board were the moving force behind the alleged constitutional violations. After extensive discovery, defendants filed a motion for summary judgment in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Albany Division, which resulted in a ruling in September of 2009 granting the school district defendants summary judgment on the federal section 1983 claims and dismissing the state tort claims asserted in the complaint. Costs were assessed against the plaintiffs by both the district court and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

In December of 2009, Stephenson successfully obtained a summary judgment in favor of the Ben Hill County School District and several administrators in another section 1983 action brought in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. That ruling was not appealed. Costs were assessed against the plaintiff in that action as well.