Fulton DA’s office beats ex-staffer’s pregnancy bias suit

“And in Georgia, district attorneys are elected officials,” the court wrote in an opinion. “The record shows that Younge was personally accountable only to Howard.”

“We are currently considering our options,” Matthew Billips, an attorney for Younge, said Tuesday in response to questions about the ruling.

Representatives for the DA’s office did not immediately respond to an inquiry.

Younge sued then-District Attorney Howard and his office in February 2020. Howard was defeated by Fani Willis in an election later that year. He was dismissed from Younge’s case in 2022.

In March 2023, a federal judge in Atlanta ruled in favor of the DA’s office, ending Younge’s case. Younge appealed, arguing in part that she was not a member of Howard’s personal staff when she was fired and therefore was entitled to Civil Rights Act protections for employees.

Tuesday’s ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the judge’s 2023 decision.

The case record shows that Younge was hired by Howard in April 2019 and started working for him the following month.

Younge was the deputy chief of staff and director of policy and programs, with a salary of just over $120,000. She was third in command after Howard, supervising more than 30 employees.

At the beginning of July 2019, Younge told Howard she was pregnant, according to her complaint. She claimed he immediately became hostile toward her and fired her two weeks later.

In ending the case, U.S. District Judge William Ray said Howard had signed an “Official Oath in Support of Hiring Personal Staff” when he hired Younge. Howard swore he had reviewed the county’s definition of personal staff and intended to hire Younge as a member of his personal staff, the judge said.