http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=1375530

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Judge reverses decision, reinstates atheist's discrimination lawsuit

By The Associated Press
July 26, 2003

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - A federal judge reinstated an atheist's
religious discrimination lawsuit against Associates Commerce
Solutions and CitiGroup.

Carletta Sims, the Tennessee director of American Atheists Inc.,
filed a $250,000 lawsuit in U.S. District Court in December 2001
claiming she was fired because she is an atheist.

Sims began working at the former ACS facility in Gray on June 21,
2000. Since then, ACS sold the property to CitiGroup.

The lawsuit stemmed from an incident in which Sims claimed two female
co-workers became openly hostile toward her after she showed them a
business card that identified her as an official with American
Atheists during a work break.

The two women, both Baptists, complained to management and were
granted a request to move away from Sims. Two days later, Sims found
a picture of Jesus on her computer.

When Sims complained, supervisor Russell Rogers dismissed her on
grounds that she was a disturbance, the lawsuit said.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Hull dismissed the lawsuit in May, saying
Sims' discharge was not based on her atheistic beliefs.

He reversed himself Monday after Sims' attorney, Charlton DeVault,
argued that ACS gave preferential treatment to the two co-workers by
allowing them to change workstations and that the company's human
resource department failed to conduct an objective investigation.

"Religious discrimination (or preferential treatment of Christians)
can be inferred and the trier of fact should be allowed to draw that
inference," Hull wrote in his order. "The court has reconsidered the
facts and does believe that an inference of discriminatory intent
could be drawn from the facts now before it."

Hull set a trial date for Sept. 30.