The Development

Authority of Peachtree City claims it hasn't violated the equal pay act

or any other law, according to documents filed for the authority in federal

court responding to a lawsuit filed by former amphitheater director Kristi

Rapson.

In the suit,

Rapson claims the Development Authority of Peachtree City unfairly compensated

her compared to Virgil Christian, who was the director of the Peachtree

City Tennis Center.

But the authority's

answer to the suit says that the two positions are not equal in terms

of responsibility, effort and skill required to perform the jobs.

Rapson's duties

as amphitheater director were not of "equal skill, equal effort and

equal responsibility and were not performed under similar working conditions

as the director of the tennis center," the authority states in an

answer to the suit.

The authority

is responsible for operating the tennis center and amphitheater, although

the structures themselves are owned by the city, which is a separate entity.

Rapson resigned

in November citing philosophical differences with the authority. She had

served as the director of the amphitheater since June 1995, and in the

suit she is seeking back pay and compensation for lost benefits due to

the alleged inequality in pay.

Christian,

who has since been promoted to executive director of the authority, gave

tennis lessons, managed 30 employees and presided over the construction

of buildings there, the authority claims. His compensation was also recommended

tennis center's director, according to the authority.

During her

tenure with the authority, Rapson's compensation increased 200 percent,

according to the authority. One of the increases equaled a 100 percent

raise after a pay study of amphitheater directors was commissioned "despite

the fact that the study would have supported a smaller increase,"

the authority claims.

In the suit,

Rapson's attorneys claim that in the third quarter of 1999, Christian's

compensation was "in excess of $41,000" which was "in the

range" of Rapson's yearly salary as director of the amphitheater.

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