Getty Images

Lawyers with an Atlanta plaintiff labor and employment firm and the American Civil Liberties Union announced Friday they have reached a settlement for a woman who filed an unusual discrimination case, though the accord's terms were not revealed.

Alicia Coleman had been employed through a job-training and employment agency in Fort Benning as a 911 operator, a job she had held for nearly a decade. She alleged that she was terminated in 2016 after her period came on unexpectedly while at work. Because she was going through menopause, her period had become irregular and could be very sudden and heavy, she claimed. She said that after leaking on two occasions several months apart, her employer fired her, claiming that it was because she had failed to use proper hygiene, according to a joint statement Friday from Coleman, the ACLU and the Buckley Beal firm.

“It's a shame that Ms. Coleman never got her day in court, but we are happy that we were able to arrive at a settlement for our client,” Sean Young, legal director for ACLU of Georgia, said in the news release. “Ms. Coleman's courage in speaking out helped start an important conversation about women and periods in the workplace, and to challenge taboos that treat simple biological facts experienced by half the population as shameful.”

Coleman initially filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia last January. That court dismissed her case, finding that she had not adequately alleged that what happened to her was a form of sex discrimination, according to the news release. She appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, arguing that premenopause and the associated sudden-onset heavy menstruation should be considered protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the federal law that prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of sex, including “pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions.”

“I worked hard all my life, and I loved my job,” Coleman said in the news release. “I hope my speaking out will encourage other women who believe they have suffered discrimination in any form to come forward.”

The settlement came before the appeal was heard.

The employer is the Atlanta-based Bobby Dodd Institute, whose stated mission is to “empower people with disabilities and disadvantages to maximize their potential by securing economic self-sufficiency, independence and integration into society.”

The institute's chief advancement officer, Lisa Kennedy, sent the Daily Report the following response by email: “We admire the ACLU's tenacity in defense of women's rights. Being an employer ourselves, we support those exact rights. Our mission is to help those with disabilities and disadvantages find and keep work. We strive every day to do everything we can for our employees.

“It is important to know the court that originally heard this case dismissed it. We think that decision would have been upheld had the legal process continued, but from a business perspective, it made a lot more sense to resolve this case so that we could devote our time and resources to what we do best—helping people in need,” the institute's message continues. “We believe we followed the law in the difficult decision to dismiss Ms. Coleman and treated her fairly. We disagree with the way this issue has been portrayed by her attorneys and in much of the subsequent media coverage.”

The email concluded: “We wish Ms. Coleman the best in her future endeavors. As we move forward, we will continue to serve our employees and provide them with the best opportunities possible.”