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.”

In addition to the monetary relief, the company also agreed to change its policies, including providing equal employment opportunity training to its employees. The company will be subject to reporting and monitoring requirements, the release said.

After the settlement was announced, Georgia Power issued the following statement:

“At Georgia Power, the safety of our employees is our top priority and we are committed to providing a safe and inclusive work environment for all of our 7,000-plus employees across the state.

“Our strict policies on seizures and drugs and alcohol help ensure that employees with safety-sensitive job requirements can safely do their jobs every day.

“While Georgia Power denies that it discriminated against any employees or applicants based on alleged disabilities, in light of our commitment to safety and our employees, the company has agreed to modify its seizure policy and drug and alcohol policy, and formalize its process of assessing employees' and applicants' ability to safely and properly perform their job.

“We believe that these modifications will further enhance the safe workplace we provide for our employees and contractors.”

EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. For more information go to www.eeoc.gov.

UPDATE: This story was updated to include a statement from Georgia Power.

This story was originally published November 16, 2016 at 2:14 PM with the headline "Georgia Power to pay over $1.5 million to settle discrimination suit; affects 24 people."