Judge upholds jury verdict in race discrimination case

GREENWOOD — A federal judge has upheld a jury’s $82,000 award to a white attorney who claimed he was fired by the Greenwood Leflore Hospital’s majority-black board because of his race.

U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock’s ruling says jurors had sufficient evidence to conclude in April that race was a motivating factor in the board’s decision to fire George Dulin.

The Greenwood Commonwealth reports Dulin served as the board’s attorney for 20 years before he was fired in 2006. It later hired a black attorney, W.M. Sanders, to replace him.

The board has maintained that its decision to fire Dulin, 86, of Madison, was based on his job performance, claiming he nodded off during meeting and provided bad legal advice.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the board will ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the case.

Aycock presided over a first trial for Dulin’s suit in 2010 and dismissed his claims, but the 5th Circuit reversed that decision last year and ordered a new trial.