Nationwide — Cindy Hawthorne, an African American woman who works as a civil rights compliance investigator at Georgia State University, says the university fired her after cancer treatments slowed her ability to keep up with work. She claims she was pushed out despite early accommodations and solid job performance.
Hawthorne started her job at Georgia State University as a civil rights compliance investigator and learned she had cancer just three weeks later. She said the diagnosis changed everything quickly, saying, “It felt like skydiving without a parachute.”
According to WSB-TV, Hawthorne informed her supervisors soon after her diagnosis. She said they responded with support at first, allowing her to work from home and extending deadlines so she could continue working while managing treatment.
During that time, Hawthorne said she still completed her work and even received a positive performance review. She also said she delayed surgery for about a month to prove her commitment to the role and maintain her workload.
As her condition worsened during chemotherapy and radiation, she said she asked for additional accommodations to keep up with her responsibilities. Instead, she said the university placed her on a 90-day performance improvement plan.
Hawthorne also said that around this period, a new employee joined her department. She claimed that worker was included in meetings and conversations she was no longer part of, which made her feel she was being sidelined.
Her attorney, Artur Davis, said the new employee later gave testimony during an EEOC investigation that supported Hawthorne’s concerns about how she was treated and whether she was being phased out of her role.
Hawthorne was fired in October 2024, less than a year after she started, and after her cancer diagnosis. The University System of Georgia, which is named in the lawsuit, has declined to comment due to ongoing litigation.
Hawthorne said the decision left her shocked and hurt. “I was just thrown away and lied to, to make it feel like it was my fault,” she said.