Georgia Power to pay over 1.5 million to settle discrimination suit; affects 24 people

Georgia Power Co. refused to hire applicants and it fired employees based on their disabilities, according to a federal agency.

The Atlanta-based electric utility company agreed Tuesday to pay $1,586,500 to settle a class disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to a news release.

The EEOC said the company’s discriminatory policies and practices affected 24 individuals. Georgia Power is the largest subsidiary of Southern Co.

EEOC filed suit in 2013, and according to its complaint, Georgia Power in some cases “disregarded the opinions of treating physicians who supported the employees’ and applicants’ ability to work. Rather than independently evaluating each employee or applicant, Georgia Power simply refused to hire disabled applicants or return employees to work following a medically related absence, the agency alleged,” the release said. “EEOC said that in other cases, Georgia Power automatically disqualified employees and applicants under its seizure policy or its drug and alcohol policy, without individually assessing the employees’ or applicants’ ability to work.”

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