Man accused of lying about degree must pay $21,000
By Mike Martinez
Inside Bay Area
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All Rights Reserved
TRACY, Calif. — The city of Tracy has settled two lawsuits with a former firefighter who claimed he had been threatened by another firefighter after he complained about his friend’s “unwelcomed actions.”
Daniel J. Noe agreed to pay the city more than $17,000 he was overpaid, plus another $4,000 in costs, for falsely claiming he had received a degree from Los Positas College, through a suit filed by the city in 2004.
Noe countersued the city, claiming wrongful termination and retaliation by other city employees.
In a closed session meeting two months ago, the Tracy City Council authorized City Attorney Debra Corbett to negotiate a settlement agreement. Corbett said as part of the agreement, both cases are concluded by the settlement.
“We’re certainly very pleased with the settlement,” Corbett said. “The city will be recovering the funds they were seeking to recover in the lawsuit. We have worked out a payment plan and he’ll be repaying a little every month.”
Noe claimed he was subjected to “inappropriate touching, physical advances, and sexual harassment” by a firefighter named Mike Francis while both worked for Tracy Rural Fire in 1995 and 1996, according to a claim filed with the city in 2004.
Between 1996 and 2003, a period of time which included the merger of Tracy Fire and Tracy Rural Fire, Noe claimed he was regularly harassed by Tracy firefighter Pat Vargas, according to documents.
Vargas physically threatened Noe, damaged his firefighting equipment, removed him from the workplace computer system and verbally assaulted him, according to the claim.
During an investigation into Noe’s harassment claims, city officials discovered Noe falsely had claimed to receive his degree from the Livermore community college. He was subsequently fired.
The city sued to get incentive money paid to Noe back, and he countersued a short time later claiming, among other things, defamation.
According to documents obtained from the city, legal fees in both cases cost the city at least $75,000.
Tuesday, the council unanimously approved entering into a settlement agreement with a man who fell into a hole while riding his bike nearly two summers ago.
William Ramsey, in a suit filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court, is seeking more than $25,000 in damages after falling into a “large gaping hole” which wasn’t barricaded or surrounded by sufficient warnings of its existence on the 900 block of F Street in Tracy.
Corbett said terms of the settlement would become public once they were filed with the court.