A settlement

has been reached in a lawsuit filed by several employees of the Fayette

County Board of Education who sought to block the release of their phone

numbers and addresses to the Georgia Association of Educators.

Earl "Buck"

Benson Jr., the attorney for the employees, said Wednesday that GAE has

agreed to withdraw its open records request. After that occurs, the employees

will voluntarily withdraw the lawsuit, he added.

"This

probably is the best and appropriate result," Benson said.

The GAE had

petitioned the Board of Education for "an electronic copy of all

employees of the Fayette County Board of Education saved on ICSN or database

with the following fields: first name, last name, address, city, zip code,

telephone number, campus and position."

Through its

member services representative, Mark Perez, GAE also asked for "a

list of new hires for 2000-2001" that included the same information.

The suit claims

the release of that information would violate the privacy of employees

Michael Eugene Smith, Kathryn E. Corley, Carol Ann Smith, Charlene Phanco

and Nancy Sheets, who brought the suit.

It claimed

that the addresses and telephone numbers were private information that,

if released, could put them in danger of physical assault by a student

or parent. The suit also claimed that the plaintiffs were afraid that

they could become victims of identity theft also if the information were

to be released.

A hearing on

the matter, which had been scheduled for Wednesday morning, was cancelled

after the settlement was reached late Tuesday.

Tim Callahan,

a spokesman for the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, said

the organization was pleased it could protect the privacy of its members.

PAGE and GAE are unrelated organizations which represent teachers in Georgia.

Georgia's open

records laws allow that some records are not required to be disclosed

if it would constitute an invasion of personal privacy.