Split Appeals Court rules racial epithet should not have cost state worker her job
The state Court of Appeals split, 2-1, in deciding that a career state employee should not have lost her job after uttering a single racial epithet to a supervisor in 2017. The decision issued Tuesday means the Currituck County Department of Social Services must restore Judith Ayers’ job, award her back pay, and cover attorneys’ fees for the seven-year legal battle. The case has included three trips to the state’s second-highest court.