COVINGTON, Ga. — Newton County government's former contract attorney says she intends to sue the Board of Commissioners after some members discriminated against her on the basis of age and race in considering her for a new in-house legal position. 

Former county attorney Megan Martin also alleges one county commissioner contacted her former employer, Jarrard & Davis, after Martin applied for the job in an attempt to get her fired — which was an illegal intervention in her employment contract with the law firm.

She also plans to seek an amount from the county that could approach $1 million, which is a base amount of $850,000 she is seeking plus compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees "to resolve the county’s unlawfully discriminatory failure to hire her based on race and age." 

Her attorney, Ed Buckley, stated in an Ante Litem Notice letter sent to the Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, Jan. 5, that Martin filed the same charges of age and racial discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Tuesday, Jan. 4. 

He stated the county must be “willing to engage with us to resolve this matter" by Jan. 21 or Martin would proceed with an investigation into her claims to the EEOC and file a lawsuit in federal court.

Georgia law requires an Ante Litem Notice be sent to a government agency detailing the specific claims before a lawsuit is filed.

Martin, who is white, was a member of the Jarrard & Davis law firm and worked with the Newton County Board of Commissioners for six years.

In the notice, Buckley stated that Martin applied for the in-house attorney position with the assurance from all commissioners except Alana Sanders that the job was "created for Ms. Martin, and that she should have the position if she wanted it."

“Ultimately, the choice for the Commission was between Ms. Martin and an African-American female candidate over 40 who specialized in real estate sales and had no relevant experience. Ms. Martin was undoubtedly more qualified given her six years of experience serving Newton County," the notice stated. 

“Nevertheless, the county offered Ms. Martin the job for a six-month contract only. The offer was designed to be rejected since the county knew that Ms. Martin would have to leave a stable, permanent job with a law firm for the uncertainty of a six-month appointment,” it stated.

In addition, after Martin initially applied for the position, Sanders, "with the assistance of her friend Denise Barnes," contacted Jarrard & Davis "and disparaged (Martin) to her former employer," the notice stated.

Meanwhile, another commissioner, Demond Mason, expressly stated he wanted a younger person to fill the new legal department position in violation of federal age discrimination laws, the notice stated. Martin is 42.

“Ms. Martin has an age discrimination claim in that Commissioner Mason explicitly stated he preferred a younger candidate for the county attorney position,” according to the notice. 

The notice also stated Sanders and Mason “have a history of publicly advocating for all positions of leadership within the county to be held by African-Americans, which is an unlawful, racially discriminatory hiring practice.” 

"Both commissioners have posted videos on social media taking that position, making clear they harbored racial animus in opposing hiring Ms. Martin, the most qualified candidate who applied for the county attorney position, on the basis of her race.

"Because there is direct evidence of race discrimination through express statements by county officials, Ms. Martin will have no trouble proving race discrimination in Newton County’s failure to hire her," stated the notice filed by Buckley.

Buckley also said Martin noted in her EEOC complaint that the Board of Commissioners did not renew Lloyd Kerr’s contract as county manager which was “a decision that appears to be based on his race (white) since he was high performing during his tenure and the commission has not announced any plan for his successor on January 1, 2022.”

County officials told the Board of Commissioners Tuesday night a committee was reviewing applications from about 16 people before Chairman Marcello Banes recommends at least three finalists from which the Board could choose to fill an interim county manager position.

The notice stated that Martin was entitled to recover pay she would have earned if she had been retained as the county government’s contract attorney, as well as compensatory damages against the county and the individual defendants and punitive damages against any individual defendants she sues.

The total of $850,000 is the equivalent of four years of pay Martin would have earned in the new position because she "would have worked at least that long, if not many more years, had the county hired her and not engaged in unlawful race and age discrimination."

Newton County government could be forced to pay that amount plus what it would need to pay an outside attorney to represent it because it still employs Jarrard & Davis for its legal representation. 

No one has applied for the in-house attorney job since the Board of Commissioners offered Martin a six-month contract in August that she later rejected, the notice said. 

The Board’s current attorney, Patrick Jaugstetter, is part of the Jarrard & Davis firm which would create a conflict if he represented the county because of the firm’s status as Martin’s former employer.

Board of Commissioners spokesman Bryan Fazio declined comment on the filing, citing the county government’s policy of not commenting on pending litigation.