But lawsuits do bring about

change. They do shine a light upon practices that are unethical, unjust

and archaic. Lawsuits force us to examine the way we do business and why

we make the decisions that we make. Lawsuits challenge the status quo.

And as painful a process as

it has been, I made the right decision for myself. I'm just not the kind

of person who can look the other way or pretend that something is not

happening.

I have been so encouraged by

the many people who have expressed their support to me. It has been overwhelming.

When I filed the first portion of the lawsuit, the Equal Pay Act complaint,

in late January 2002, I was dismayed to pick up The Citizen newspaper

from the driveway just a few days later and discover a front page article

about it. I had still not confided my decision to file suit with my closest

friends and now it was front page news.

After the first couple of phone

calls, I decided to keep a list of those who expressed support for me

so that as the lawsuit dragged on I could look back and remember those

who encouraged me from the beginning.

My attorney told me to expect

the lawsuit would probably take several years to be resolved, possibly

three to five years. I knew that it would be a long haul.

I pulled out a notepad and

began recording names of supporters. Within days I had several pages of

names and couldn't keep up with the many people who stopped me at the

grocery store, spoke to me at sports games, community events and those

who made a point of looking for me at church. These people continue to

encourage me and pray for me. I didn't need to keep a list after all.

I have been most struck by

the number of women who have told me that they have also experienced discrimination

in the workplace. Amazing, intelligent, strong, productive, hard-working

women from fields as varied as banking, sales, retail, manufacturing,

education, hospitality, finance and even the legal profession.

The most gratifying thing for

me has been to hear from women who are now standing up for themselves

and insisting upon equal pay and an end to discrimination and unfair practices

within their workplace. To know that I have encouraged these women is

an unexpected gift.

There are some specific things

that I want to say in regard to my Equal Pay Act and Title VII Discrimination

lawsuits:

·The lawsuits have been

filed against the Development Authority of Peachtree City. Virgil Christian,

as I was, is merely an employee of the DAPC. This suit is not against

Virgil, with whom I had an excellent working relationship when we were

colleagues. Virgil did not make the decisions that led to this suit. The

seven men who served on the DAPC bear the responsibility for those decisions.

· The suit is not against

the Frederick Brown, Jr. Amphitheater. Taking the amphitheater and transforming

it from an underused, overlooked, disregarded small town amphitheater

into the wonderful regional concert venue that it is today is an accomplishment

of which I am very proud. I hold the current leadership at the amphitheater

in the highest regard. The spotlight focused on them due to this lawsuit

has been unfortunate but they have risen to the occasion and kept the

focus of the amphitheater on its future and not its past. They are doing

a great job and I am very proud of them.

· The suit is not against

the Peachtree City Tennis Center. While the Tennis Center has certainly

had its own problems over the past couple of years, my lawsuit has nothing

to do with addressing those issues. I know the staff at the Tennis Center

to be hard-working and sincere. They do their jobs well.

· I tried to work with

the DAPC for many years to resolve the issues that eventually led to the

lawsuit. This decision was not made in haste and it was not made in regard

to any other factor beyond the merits of the suits. This is one of the

most difficult things I have ever done.

· I do not want my job

back at the amphitheater. I'm not the kind of person who sees a movie

twice or reads a book more than once. I don't want to go backward in my

life, only forward.

So what's next? More filings,

more responses, eventually a federal trial by jury. It will undoubtedly

be a lengthy, arduous journey but it is a necessary one.

It is imperative that the DAPC

create an objective method for determining the compensation of its employees.

Every employee should receive an objective annual performance evaluation

and that evaluation should be the basis for giving pay increases.

The DAPC also needs to conduct

a full-scale review of its pay structure for every employee and clearly

define the positions, titles and responsibilities of its employees in

compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act.

They shouldn't do these things

because a lawsuit has been filed against them or because they are ordered

to do these things by a court of law. They should do these things because

it's simply the right thing to do.

And that is what this is all

about.

Kristi Rapson

Peachtree City