O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 45-19-21 (2019)

Purposes and construction of article

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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(a) The general purposes of this article are: (1) To provide for execution within public employment in the state of the policies embodied in Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (78 Stat. 241), as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (86 Stat. 103), as from time to time amended, the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (81 Stat. 602), as from time to time amended, and the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (87 Stat. 355), as from time to time amended; (2) To safeguard all individuals in public employment from discrimination in employment; and (3) To promote the elimination of discrimination against all individuals in public employment because of such individuals’ race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age thereby to promote the protection of their interest in personal dignity and freedom from humiliation; to make available to the state their full productive capacities; to secure the state against domestic strife and unrest which would menace its democratic institutions; to preserve the public safety, health, and general welfare; and to further the interests, rights, and privileges of individuals within the state. (b) This article shall be broadly construed to further the general purposes stated in this Code section and the special purposes of the particular provision involved. (c) Nothing in this article shall be construed as indicating an intent to exclude local or federal laws on the same subject matter, which laws are not inconsistent with this article. (d) Nothing contained in this article shall be deemed to repeal any other nonconflicting law of this state relating to discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or age.

History

(Ga. L. 1978, p. 859, § 2; Ga. L. 1983, p. 1097, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 8, § 45; Ga. L. 1995, p. 1302, § 10.)

Annotations

Law reviews. - For article, ‘‘Gender and Justice in the Courts: A Report to the

PUBLIC OFFICERS & EMPLOYEES

Supreme Court of Georgia by the Commission on Gender Bias in the Judicial System,’’ see 8 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 539 (1992). JUDICIAL DECISIONS Reference to federal decisions is appropriate in view of purposes of O.C.G.A. Art. 2, Ch. 19, T. 45. - Reference to federal decisions interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.) is appropriate in

view of purposes of Act as stated in O.C.G.A. § 45-19-21. Georgia Dep’t of Human Resources v. Montgomery, 248 Ga. 465, 284 S.E.2d 263 (1981); Georgia Bureau of Investigation v. Heard, 166 Ga. App. 895, 305 S.E.2d 670 (1983).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL No repeal of ‘‘State Merit System Law’’ by this Act. - The statutory provisions of the ‘‘State Merit System Law’’, O.C.G.A. § 45-20-1 et seq., that bar discrimination in state employment, and provide a procedure to adjudicate cases of

unlawful employment discrimination have not been repealed by the ‘‘Georgia Fair Employment Practices Act,’’ O.C.G.A. § 45-19-20 et seq. 1983 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 83-51.

RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. - Application of state law to sex discrimination in employment, 87 ALR3d 93. Identification of jobseeker by race, religion, national origin, sex, or age, in ‘‘Situation Wanted’’ employment advertising as violation of state civil rights laws, 99 ALR3d 154. Accommodation requirement under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 76 ALR4th 310. Handicap as job disqualification under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 78 ALR4th 265. Damages and other relief under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 78 ALR4th 435. Discrimination ‘‘because of handicap’’ or ‘‘on the basis of handicap’’ under state statutes prohibiting job discrimination on account of handicap, 81 ALR4th 144. What constitutes handicap under state legislation forbidding job discrimination on account of handicap, 82 ALR4th 26.

Availability and scope of punitive damages under state employment discrimination law, 81 ALR5th 367. Validity, construction, and application of state enactment, order, or regulation expressly prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination, 82 ALR5th 1. Individual liability of supervisors, managers, officers or co-employees for discriminatory actions under state Civil Rights Act, 83 ALR5th 1. What constitutes employer’s reasonable accommodation of employee’s religious preferences under Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, 134 ALR Fed 1. What constitutes reverse or majority gender discrimination against males violative of federal constitution or statutes - public employment cases, 153 ALR Fed. 609. What constitutes employment discrimination by public entity in violation of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C.A. § 12132, 164 ALR Fed. 433. Can ‘‘at-will’’ employee bring action for racial discrimination under 42 U.S.C.A. § 1981, 165 ALR Fed. 143.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 13 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1983–2024 · leading case: Finney v. Dep't of Corr., 434 S.E.2d 45 (Ga. 1993).
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Finney v. Dep't of Corr., 434 S.E.2d 45 (Ga. 1993). · cites it 14× “In determining the interplay between the reasonable attorney fee provisions of OCGA § 45-19-38 (c) and the actual damages provision of § 45-19-38 (d), the plurality has completely ignored OCGA § 45-19-21. OCGA § 45-19-21 (a) (1) directs that the General Assembly enacted FEPA to…”
City of Atlanta v. McKinney, 454 S.E.2d 517 (Ga. 1995). · cites it 8× “The dissent's argument that anti-discrimination law is "diluted by expansion of the number of protected classes" is similarly without a basis in law or fact. Individuals can be subjected to more than one type of irrational discrimination which the government is at liberty to…”
Kilmark v. Bd. of Regents, 334 S.E.2d 890 (Ga. Ct. App. 1985). · cites it 14× “OCGA § 45-19-38 (b) and (c) vests the special master with authority to take such remedial action as in his or her judgment will rectify the unlawful employment practices so as to carry out the purpose of the statute, and such remedial action may include "[h]iring, reinstatement,…”
Kimel v. Florida Bd. of Regents, 528 U.S. 62 (2000). “); Ga. Code Ann. § 45-19-21 et seq. (1990 and Supp.”
Williamson v. Dep't of Human Resources, 572 S.E.2d 678 (Ga. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 2× “OCGA §§ 45-19-21 (a) (3); 45-19-36 (b). A FEPA action can result in a judgment for back pay and other actual damages, including litigation expenses.”
Hughes v. Georgia Dep't of Corr., 600 S.E.2d 383 (Ga. Ct. App. 2004). · cites it 2× “Conceptually, the Act and the FEPA are similar in that they are designed to protect individuals in public employment, but by enacting the FEPA the legislature specifically provided a range of remedial actions, including monetary damages such as back pay, with certain limitations.”
Anstadt v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. Sys. Ga., 693 S.E.2d 868 (Ga. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 2× “23 OCGA §§ 45-19-21 (a) (3); 45-19-36 (b); 45-19-39 (a).”
State of Georgia v. Sun States Ins. Grp., Inc.; Regulatory Tech., Inc. v. State of Georgia, 770 S.E.2d 43 (Ga. Ct. App. 2015). · cites it 2× “28 OCGA §§ 45-19-21 (a) (3); 45-19-36 (b). 29 Williamson, supra at 116 (1); OCGA § 45-19-38 (c).”
Georgia Bureau of Investigation v. Heard, 305 S.E.2d 670 (Ga. Ct. App. 1983). · cites it 2× “However, in view of the purposes of the act as stated in [OCGA § 45-19-21], reference to federal decisions interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would be appropriate.”
Dep't of Corr. v. Finney, 416 S.E.2d 805 (Ga. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 2× “Among the general purposes of the Act is the provision “for execution within public employment in [this] state of the policies embodied in Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 .”
Augusta Jud. Circuit Off. of the Pub. Def. v. Necia Hodge-Peets (Ga. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 9× “OCGA § 45-19-21 (b), (c). The FEPA provides that its intent is to further the policies of several federal employment discrimination laws, and specifically refers to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, 42 USCA § 2000e et seq.”
Musson v. Jones (S.D. Ga. 2023). · cites it 2× “O.C.G.A. § 45-19-21(a). A FEPA action can result in a judgment for back pay and other actual damages, including litigation expenses.”
Show all 13 citing cases →
— 45-19-21(a) — 2 cases
Musson v. Jones (S.D. Ga. 2023). “O.C.G.A. § 45-19-21(a). A FEPA action can result in a judgment for back pay and other actual damages, including litigation expenses.”
Patterson v. Uselton (M.D. Ga. 2024).
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.