Padgett at the state Republican convention in Athens in 2013.

Longtime Athens Republican John Padgett, currently chairman of the state GOP, has been hit with a lawsuit alleging that he has discriminated against minority employees at his ambulance business.

According to the AJC:

A lawsuit filed in Atlanta’s federal court accuses John Padgett of regularly engaging in 'bigoted, racist and sexist commentary about employees' at his ambulance firm and of encouraging similar behavior from other white managers.

It was brought by Vanessa Dewberry, a former manager of Southeast Ambulance Inc., a firm run by Padgett. Dewberry, who is black, recorded a February 2014 meeting in which Padgett referred to a staffer as a “black tech that’s supposed to know better” in what she said was a demeaning manner.

A spokesman for Padgett declined to immediately comment on the litigation.

Qiana Keith, an African American former aide to Padgett at the GOP, sued him last year, accusing him of referring to her by a racial slur, then firing her when she complained. The case is still pending.

Republican activists elected Padgett to lead the state party in 2013. He was a key player in consolidating Republican power in Georgia in last year's elections and has made minority outreach a priority.