A U.S. magistrate judge has given the ok to send a race discrimination case against the Buford city school system to trial.
The case alleges that former schools superintendent Geye Hamby and former principal Kaleen Pulley organized the firing of an African American paraprofessional, Mary Ingram, in 2017, according to an update on the case from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Those allegations are denied by the school system, Hamby and Pulley.
Ingram alleges she was fired from her job in June 2017 after she inquired as to why the color gold, which was to represent the city's Black school district before integration in1969, was not included in the school district's green and white emblem.
The case also involves several recordings of racist rants. The recordings were mailed to Ingram anonymously to her aunt's home. The school system argued in pretrial motions that the recordings were hearsay and should not be admitted in the trial. The voice on the recordings is reportedly Hamby, though the AJC reports Hamby said the voice sounds like his, but denied making the statements.
A 131 page decision was issued in mid-May by Judge Walter Johnson, the paper reports. In it, he concluded that the audio of the rant can be used as evidence in the trial, as well as that a race discrimination claim and retaliation claim regarding Ingram's rights of free speech should proceed towards trial.
He also decided that three other claims made by Ingram should be dismissed. However, U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor Ross will make the final determination as to which claims go forward, the paper said.
