Former City of Atlanta official says she was discriminated against for her age

ATLANTA — A former Director for IT for the City of Atlanta is now suing the city for what she calls age discrimination and retaliation.

Carla Smith, 53, says her younger supervisor was systematically trying to get rid of employees over 40.

She told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes that when she spoke up about it, she was fired.

Smith was hired in 2019 as the Director of Information Technology.

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She loved her leadership role for the city for at least the first two years until her colleague, a woman under 40, got promoted and became her boss.

In Smith’s EEOC complaint she filed in September, she said that her new boss pressured her to fire an employee over the age of 50 for no reason.

In her complaint, Smith said she reported it to Human Resources and was later demoted and eventually fired.

“I was allowed to maintain my current role for a period of time until I took a vacation. When I took a vacation and I came back, I was told I was being terminated. It was traumatic to say the least. I feel as if , like I said I’m just one of millions of middle-aged professionals, we really just want to do our jobs. I know that the treatment, I feel, was unfair. I also think that treatment was illegal,” said Smith.

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According to city officials, the supervisor at the center of these allegations resigned in the middle of this investigation.

“I think it speaks to, and supports, my allegation and my charge,” said Smith.

”Anytime an org decides it wants to make its workforce look and feel a certain way, it’s on the path to getting sued,” Smith’s attorney Artur Davis said.

Fernandes reached out to the City of Atlanta. They said because there’s a federal investigation, they can’t comment.

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