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LCW Attorneys Win Early Dismissal Of Fire Captain’s Case For Retaliation And Age Discrimination

CATEGORY: Client Update for Public Agencies, Fire Watch, Law Enforcement Briefing Room, Public Education Matters
CLIENT TYPE: Public Education, Public Employers, Public Safety
DATE: Apr 05, 2023

LCW Partners Jennifer Rosner and Joung Yim and Associates Marek Pienkos and Cara Strike succeeded on a City’s motion for summary judgment against a fire captain.

A City fire captain voluntarily participated in the unpaid Search and Rescue program.  His lawsuit claimed that after he reported that the fire chief and battalion chief had allegedly misused funds, the City “demoted him” from Search and Rescue Coordinator to Search and Rescue Program Advisor and that his Coordinator position was given to a much younger person.  He also alleged he received a substandard performance evaluation.

LCW convinced the court that the City had not taken any adverse employment action, and therefore the fire captain’s claims for retaliation and discrimination lacked merit.  First, the position he was allegedly “demoted” from was a voluntary, unpaid position and had no bearing on his actual employment, salary, or benefits.  Second, the fire captain did not receive a substandard performance rating.  He had been rated as “Standard” in all but three categories, in which he was rated “Above Standard.”  LCW further showed that a rating of “Standard” meant “meeting or exceeding expectations” and these ratings were consistent with the fire captain’s performance evaluations from the prior 10 years.

The court rejected the fire captain’s speculative argument that the “demotion” damaged his reputation and would result in future earnings loss.  Because the fire captain offered no evidence to support this speculation, the court found no reasonable trier of fact could find that his future career prospects had been affected.

Therefore, the court dismissed all claims.

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