Robins Bias Lawsuit Settled for $880,000

WARNER ROBINS — The settlement of a “reverse discrimination” lawsuit includes the payment of approximately $880,000 to former and current white male Robins Air Force Base workers.

Andrew Coffman, one of the Atlanta attorneys who represented the plaintiffs, said Thursday that the five workers who initially filed the lawsuit will receive about $100,000 each.

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“A lot of people — base employees especially — didn’t think white males had rights and that white males couldn’t beat the government, but we did win,” plaintiff Willie Barber of Warner Robins said Thursday. “We did not just beat Robins Air Force Base, we beat the entire Air Force and the U.S. Justice Department.”

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The case was based in part on supervisor e-mails that had been intercepted by a Robins employee in April 2001. The e-mails appeared to direct higher rating categories for two minority males and lower rating categories for five white males. The rating categories were tied to promotions, bonuses and job security.

“This is plain and simple discrimination,” Coffman said. He said he hopes the case will have a far-reaching effect.

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