Compliance September 8, 2005

Appeals Court Reaffirms BellSouth Racial Discrimination Decision

September 8, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reopen a racial discrimination case filed by a former BellSouth Corporation attorney.
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After six days of oral arguments, the three judge panel of the appeals court issued a one-statement  opinion affirming a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to BellSouth, according to Atlanta’s Fulton County Daily Report.  

The attorney representing BellSouth, James Coil, III of Kilpatrick Stockton, said Lisa Hogan was fired because she failed to provide good client service, didn’t take responsibility for her actions, and didn’t meet BellSouth’s standards for earning clients’ acceptance, trust and respect, and not because she is African-American, according to the Daily Report.   But, Hogan called the explanation a “smokescreen to cover the institutional racism in the legal department.”

Hogan and her attorney, Charles Bridgers of Delong Caldwell Bridgers, say BellSouth did not disclose some personnel documents that supported their case, a claim which BellSouth disputes.

According to the Fulton County Daily Report, Hogan did not say whether she would appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court.

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