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Female firefighter claims discrimination

Lt. Wendy Cason says in a lawsuit that Clearwater's fire chief treated her unfairly, a charge the city manager disputes.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE
Published September 23, 2006

CLEARWATER - The city's highest-ranking female firefighter filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city on Wednesday, alleging the department's chief failed to treat her fairly.

Lt. Wendy Cason, a 20-year firefighter, says in the lawsuit that fire Chief Jamie Geer "has a pattern or practice of discriminating against women in the Fire Department." It alleges that since August 2004, "Cason has repeatedly been subjected to discrimination because of her sex."

City Manager Bill Horne said the city "maintains that it didn't do anything wrong."

"We will respond to it in court," Horne said Wednesday.

The suit offers these alleged instances of discrimination:

- On or about April 22, 2005, Geer singled her out because of her sex and ordered that she was no longer able to serve as acting district chief.

- On or about May 4, 2005, Geer didn't allow Cason to take a makeup exam for promotion.

- On Sept. 17-21, 2005, Geer prohibited female firefighters from entering burning buildings.

"There are promotional opportunities she was denied, compensation she was denied ... ," said Ryan D. Barack, her attorney. "The over-arching issue is, the city needs to create a workplace where women are not discriminated against. They need to end discrimination against female firefighters in the city of Clearwater."

In 2005, Cason was one of six female firefighters who filed discrimination complaints against Geer with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission. The five other complaints, which centered around Geer's decision to bar female firefighters from entering burning buildings, were found insufficient by the commission.

But in May, the EEOC concluded that Cason was discriminated against when Geer didn't allow her to take a makeup test that was required for a promotion to district chief. About the same time, she was denied the opportunity, a male firefighter was allowed to take a makeup test.

The EEOC said that because of Cason's gender, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 occurred.

After the decision, the EEOC asked the parties to try to reach a settlement. Cason said in June that "we made an offer and the city refused to even discuss it with us."

The settlement offer was believed to be about $250,000.

Because no settlement was reached, Cason filed suit.

"They did something wrong and the federal government has already determined they did something wrong," Barack said.

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at 445-4174 or dalee@sptimes.com

[Last modified September 23, 2006, 06:36:56]