By Jessica Fleming
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
BURNSVILLE, Minn. — A former Burnsville firefighter with multiple sclerosis has settled a gender and disability discrimination lawsuit against the city.
Though Burnsville officially denied any wrongdoing, the city’s insurer in September paid Lisa A. Starkey $145,000 to drop the lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank dismissed the disability claim, saying Starkey failed to show the city regarded her as disabled. The gender-discrimination portion of her claim was deemed fit for trial.
William Mavity, Starkey’s attorney, said the dismissal of the disability claim was “on a technicality.”
However, he said, “It was a substantial settlement; we were pleased with it.”
According to the court documents:
Starkey, 35, was the city’s only female firefighter-paramedic when her job was terminated in 2006. She said she was fired after being put through an especially rigorous set of physical tests that lasted more than three hours, even though her doctor, and later the city’s doctor, had cleared her for normal duty.
Starkey, who had been with the department since 1999, experienced several flare-ups of her condition -- a chronic degenerative disease of the central nervous system -- since her diagnosis in 2003. Each time, she took sick time until her symptoms resolved.
Starkey returned to work after a flare-up on Jan. 3, 2006, after being cleared by her doctor for normal duty. A few weeks later, a captain in the department sent a letter to the assistant fire chief saying that Starkey had bumped against the curb six times while driving during one shift. The captain said Starkey had a “little trouble seeing at dusk.” The captain also said Starkey’s strength was diminished.
In response to the letter, the city ordered Starkey to be examined by Dr. Kevin Wall at Park Nicollet Clinic. After his examination, Wall wrote it was “likely (Starkey) should be able to resume work,” though some skill or functional capacity tests would be appropriate to ensure she could meet the demands of her job. But in another report filed with the city, Wall wrote that Starkey could “return to work with no limitations.”
But after talking to city officials the next day, Wall withdrew his authorization, and the city placed Starkey on light duty.
After a set of tests, Starkey was allowed to return to her regular job duties two weeks later.
In February 2006, another co-worker sent a memo expressing concerns about Starkey’s performance. The co-worker said Starkey had complained of a lack of energy and struggled to lift “a heavy drunk guy.”
Starkey was placed on administrative leave and told she would have to undergo additional testing, the court documents said.
On March 29, 2006, Starkey underwent two sets of physical tests, one of which no other city firefighter had had to perform. In the second test administered that day, Starkey failed to complete the physical ability test given to new firefighters within the time required.
On April 5, 2006, the city fired Starkey. She filed her suit against Burnsville a few weeks later.
After several months, Starkey found a job as a paramedic with Hennepin County Medical Center, but at lower pay than her previous job.
Starkey said she felt the settlement was fair, but she wasn’t convinced it would change how the city treats its employees.
Burnsville officials did not return calls for comment on the settlement.