## Facts

- Eighteen current and former white sworn employees of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department sued Fulton County, Georgia and Sheriff Jacquelyn H. Barrett, alleging race-based disparate treatment in employment actions.
- Plaintiffs alleged a department-wide “policy or custom” and “pattern or practice” of discrimination against white employees involving discipline, promotions, transfers, reclassifications, promotional examinations, restorations of rank, and appointments to unclassified positions.
- Plaintiffs brought claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1983 and Title VII.
- The district court certified a Rule 23(b)(2) class of present and future sworn white employees and certain past sworn white employees alleging timely discriminatory acts.
- The district court denied defendants’ request to sever and tried the individual claims together before a jury.
- The jury found for 15 of 18 plaintiffs, finding (1) Fulton County maintained a discriminatory policy or custom and (2) Sheriff Barrett intentionally discriminated against white employees; the court entered damages, backpay, individual equitable relief, and class-wide injunctive relief.
- Defendants appealed, challenging trial management/joinder, liability proof (including Monell “policy or custom”), and relief.

## Issues

1. Whether the district court abused its discretion by trying numerous individualized discrimination claims together without adequate measures to prevent jury confusion and unfair prejudice.
2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support (a) municipal liability under § 1983 based on a county “policy or custom” of discrimination and (b) intentional discrimination findings as to each prevailing plaintiff.
3. Whether class-wide injunctive relief and individual monetary/equitable awards were proper given the proof and the structure of the trial.

## Decision

- The Eleventh Circuit affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.
- The court held that substantial evidence supported several intentional-discrimination findings and supported county liability for discriminatory practices attributable to the Sheriff’s employment decisions.
- The court concluded that the multi-plaintiff trial, as conducted, created a serious risk of evidentiary “spillover” and prejudice, requiring partial reversal and remand as to certain claims and related relief.
- The court directed further proceedings to reassess affected findings and remedies in light of the trial-management error and claim-specific proof requirements.

## Legal Principles

- A municipality is liable under § 1983 only when a constitutional violation results from an official “policy or custom”; proof must connect the challenged employment actions to an attributable policy/custom rather than respondeat superior.
- Individual disparate-treatment claims require proof of intentional discrimination; a jury may reject an employer’s stated nondiscriminatory reasons when they are inconsistent, unsupported, or selectively applied.
- “Pattern or practice” evidence may support an inference of discriminatory intent and broader unlawful practices, but individualized liability and remedies remain decision-specific.
- District courts must manage multi-plaintiff discrimination trials to prevent unfair prejudice and jury confusion; severance or separate trials may be necessary when claims are highly individualized and overlapping evidence risks improper cross-inference.
- Class-wide injunctive relief under Rule 23(b)(2) depends on proof of ongoing or department-wide practices warranting prospective relief; individualized monetary and equitable relief must rest on claim-specific findings.

## Conclusion

The Eleventh Circuit sustained significant portions of the jury’s discrimination findings and related liability, but held that the district court’s single, consolidated trial of many individualized claims created undue prejudice and confusion for certain claims, requiring partial reversal and remand for further proceedings and recalculation of affected remedies.


Alexander v. Fulton Cnty., 207 F.3d 1303 (11th Cir. 2000)