By Mitch Mitchell
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas — The city paid more than $150,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by a firefighter who said he suffered retaliation after reporting that the city’s first woman firefighter was sexually harassed, and the city is trying to have another lawsuit concerning the alleged harassment thrown out.
Both cases involve allegations that Stacy Conaway was sexually harassed by former Assistant Chief John Wagner and that department officials retaliated when the harassment was reported.
The settlement came in the case of now-retired Capt. Paul Timothy Kuykendall, who had filed a written complaint that Conaway was being harassed. He contended that his career was hurt as a result.
As part of the settlement, neither the city nor Kuykendall admitted wrongdoing.
The city is trying to have a federal court dismiss the case filed on behalf of Conaway, who began working as a Grand Prairie firefighter in 1997. In that lawsuit, Conaway says the city initially covered up sexual harassment reports involving Wagner, the city’s second highest-ranking Fire Department official, and then did nothing while she was punished by Wagner’s supporters.
The city says there was no cover-up.
“The city does not tolerate sexual harassment,” city spokeswoman Amy Sprinkles said. “We take any reports of sexual harassment very seriously.”
Wagner declined to comment.
Harassment allegations
Soon after Conaway began work, she said that Wagner gave her unwanted gifts, including a negligee, a vibrator and an X-rated movie. She said she threw away the gifts but did not file a complaint.
Instead, she said that she tried to avoid Wagner, but that harassment continued.
At one point, she said, two department captains told Conaway that she should report Wagner’s behavior, but Conaway said she was reluctant to do so because of possible negative consequences.
“My fellow firefighters were already giving me grief about it,” Conaway said. “I was just trying to keep my distance from him. When I would get shifted to another station for manpower reasons, they would joke that they never saw him around before I showed up.”
According to Conaway, the captains told Fire Chief Cliff Nelson themselves, but the oral report was ignored.
Then in 2004, Conaway said, Wagner compared her breasts to the breasts of a woman taking the department’s physical agility test, and said the applicant must have used Conaway’s doctor. Conaway said that she had had breast augmentation surgery, and that Wagner was aware of it.
When Kuykendall, who was then Conaway’s supervisor, became aware of Wagner’s comments, he reported them to Nelson in an e-mail and in person, according to court documents.
City officials investigated and reported their findings to the Fire Department.
Nelson testified in a deposition that a report from the Grand Prairie Human Resources Department found the allegations of sexual harassment to be true and that he then put Wagner on administrative leave while he considered discipline options.
But before any discipline could be meted out, Wagner retired with benefits and pay, court records showed. He now works for the Arlington school district.
Because Wagner was never disciplined, the investigatory findings were placed in his private file and could not be revealed, city officials said.
Conaway said Nelson told her that the city did not find evidence of any violations during its investigation.
Possible retaliation
When Wagner resigned, Conaway said some firefighters remarked that it was a shame that someone had to lose his job over nothing.
The day after Wagner’s resignation, Conaway found a dent in her Chevrolet Tahoe that was parked in the Fire Department’s lot, according to allegations in court documents. The dent in the vehicle’s door looked like it was caused by the same type of boot worn by firefighters, the documents allege.
She also said that a firefighter pulled down his pants in front of her, revealing a pair of Spandex shorts. That firefighter laughed and made the comment, according to Conaway: “You thought I was going to show you something.”
Soon afterward, Conaway said, she received less-desirable job assignments, such as being moved from a firefighting position to administrative staff.
Conaway said she believes that complaints about Wagner’s behavior caused some in the department to view her as a troublemaker.
“When things have gotten really rough, I’ve been told that I just should have kept my mouth shut,” Conaway said.
Kuykendall said he, too, believes that speaking up for Conaway damaged what had been a good work relationship he had with the department.
He was brought up on charges of using profanity while talking to subordinates about the denting of Conaway’s vehicle, according to court records. He was suspended for 15 days, though that suspension was reduced on appeal, court records show.
He was also demoted after city officials concluded that he had exposed himself in front of another firefighter. In January 2007, a hearing examiner determined that evidence was insufficient to support the allegation but concluded that Kuykendall was involved in inappropriate behavior. Kuykendall was suspended without pay for 30 days. He appealed, and in June 2007 the court ruled in his favor and ordered that he be compensated.
The lawsuits
In July 2007, Kuykendall sued Grand Prairie and four Fire Department officials for more than $13 million. The city settled the suit in September. It paid Kuykendall more than $100,000, and he retained his benefits, according to court documents. The city also paid more than $51,700 in attorney’s fees to Randall Moore, who also represents Conaway in her lawsuit.
“It feels wonderful to get some confirmation that I’ve been telling the truth all along,” Kuykendall said.
After the settlement, he left the department.
Conaway sued July 29, alleging retaliation and seeking more than $10 million in damages.
The city has denied all the allegations, claimed immunity from damages, and alleged that she failed to follow proper procedures and make proper complaints. City officials said in their answer to Conaway’s complaint that she did say her vehicle door was dented but did not have any evidence showing where or when the denting occurred. According to the city, Conaway asked to be put in the position she currently occupies.
A major part of the city’s argument for the dismissal of Conaway’s lawsuit is that she waited too long to file it.
Moore contends that Conaway waited because the fire chief told her that the city’s investigation of Wagner found no evidence of violations.
City officials said they were legally prohibited from divulging their findings to Conaway. Chapter 143 of the government code calls for such investigation findings to be kept secret if no disciplinary action is taken.
“The allegations were pursued until there was nothing we could do,” City Attorney Donald Postel said. “I can’t tell you what would have happened had he stayed, because the investigation didn’t work its way through. We have to keep what we found secret. It’s the law.”
The Texas Municipal League Risk Pool, the city’s insurance carrier, has hired James Jeffrey Jr. to defend Grand Prairie. Jeffrey has not returned phone calls from the Star-Telegram.
Copyright 2009 Fort Worth Star-Telegram