Dulin v. GLH Board

U.S.D.C., Northern District of Mississippi, Delta Division

Cause No. 4:07-cv-00194-SA

On April 12, 2012, a jury in United States District Court in Aberdeen, Mississippi, returned a verdict in favor of George Dulin against the Board of Commissioners of the Greenwood Leflore Hospital. The jury awarded Mr. Dulin $12,000.00 for actual damages and $70,000.00 for compensatory damages, plus attorneys’ fees and expenses. A jury found that the Greenwood Leflore Hospital fired George Dulin because of his race (white). Over a year before his firing, members of the Greenwood Voters’ League had called for his replacement by a black lawyer. This was the second trial of the case. In the first trial, Judge Sharion Aycock threw out the case, ruling Dulin did not have enough evidence to present a jury issue. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, holding that a jury should decide whether Dulin was discriminated against. Dulin had been the board attorney for twenty-four (24) years. Attorneys for Plaintiff were Jim Waide and Rachel M. Pierce of Waide & Associates, P.A. in Tupelo, Mississippi. Attorneys for Defendant were Susan Fahey Desmond and Daisy Marie Gurdi·n of Jackson Lewis LLP in New Orleans, Louisiana.