ATLANTA — A woman hired to protect the civil rights of students and staff at Georgia State University says the school ended up violating her rights by firing her because she couldn’t work fast after getting cancer.
“One in three of us will have to deal with this. It’s not OK,” said Cindy Hawthorne.
Hawthorne never thought she would be diagnosed with cancer, but just three weeks after getting a job at GSU as a civil rights compliance investigator, doctors gave her the devastating news.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
“It felt like skydiving without a parachute,” said Hawthorne.
When she initially told her GSU directors she had cancer, she says they were sympathetic and gave her accommodations to work from home and extended her deadlines.
Hawthorne told Channel 2’s Tyisha Fernandes she put off surgery for a month to show her commitment to the job.
When she returned to work remotely, she says she was getting her work done, and directors gave her a good performance review.
However, when chemotherapy and radiation caused more health complications and Hawthorne asked for her accommodations to be extended, she says her directors put her on a performance improvement plan for 90 days.
She also says GSU hired someone else in her department.
“He kind of started letting me know about meetings that management was having without me, raises and offers that he was getting, and he understood that I was being pushed out,” said Hawthorne.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Marijuana leaf, vapes available to medical cannabis patients under new bill
- Parents, students shaken after 15-year-old arrested for bringing gun to a Cobb County high school
- ‘Atlanta-Conda’: 8-foot python spotted on Beltline
Artur Davis, Hawthorne’s attorney, said that the new employee testified to the plan in the EEOC investigation.
GSU fired Hawthorne in October 2024, less than a year after she was hired and got cancer.
Since the University System of Georgia is listed in the civil lawsuit, Fernandes contacted them. A spokesperson said they can’t comment on pending litigation.
“This is a woman who delayed having surgery because she wanted to make sure the work got done in her organization. That’s someone that’s more than pulling her weight,” said Davis.
“I was just thrown away and lied to, to make it feel like it was my fault,” said Hawthorne.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
