Case: Individual Employment Rights/Whistleblowing (Ga. Ct. App.)

A trial court erred in granting summary judgment to the DeKalb County Sheriff on a fired sergeant’s claim of retaliatory discharge in violation of the Georgia Whistleblower Act, because he carried his burden of proof that the Sheriff’s stated reason for terminating him—alleged violations of truthfulness and public criticism policies—was pretextual, the Georgia Court of Appeals found, reversing the decision. The sergeant reported an incident of excessive use of force toward an inmate at the jail to internal investigators and to his direct supervisor. A reasonable juror could find that he established causation between his protected disclosures and subsequent termination ...