City settles lawsuit by former firefighter
Council OKs a $275,000 payment to one of two women, vows more training within HFD
City council on Wednesday voted to settle a federal discrimination lawsuit by a female Houston firefighter who alleged she was tormented by male colleagues at Houston Fire Department’s Bush airport station, ending a long-running dispute that dates back to 2009 and clouded the fire department in scandal.
The council unanimously approved a $275,000 payment to the now-former firefighter, Ena Jane Draycott, and her attorney. It also agreed to a consent decree that lays out training remedies the city must implement to ensure other workers do not face similar discrimination.
In February 2018, the federal government sued the city on behalf of Draycott and another firefighter, Paula Keyes. The lawsuit alleged the fire department violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which forbids discrimination based on race and gender, among other factors.
The city previously approved a $67,500 settlement for Keyes in April. Keyes still works for the department. Draycott retired in 2011.
“I know Jane is really delighted to hear they approved it,” said Joseph Ahmad, Draycott’s attorney. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Through Ahmad, Draycott declined comment.
The lawsuit alleged that male colleagues tormented the women at Station 54, turning off the cold water in showers to scald them, disconnecting speakers to prevent them from responding to calls, and urinating on the women’s bathroom walls and sinks.
Ahmad said commanders failed to address the situation when the women reported the abuse, which occurred in 2009. The lawsuit also alleged the women faced retaliation for reporting it. As an example, the suit states that Draycott kept a photo in her locker of her late daughter, who died in a car accident. After she reported the abuse, someone wrote “dead” on the picture and
“die” on a picture of Draycott.
When she came back to the station from a leave of absence in 2010, what was supposed to be a “team building” session overseen by then-Fire Chief Phil Boriskie devolved into a “demeaning” four-hour confrontation about why her shift captain and other crew members did not want her to return.
Then-Mayor Annise Parker scolded Boriskie for his handling of the matter, and he resigned as chief less than a week later.
No firefighters faced disciplinary action for the misconduct described in the lawsuit, which Mayor Sylvester Turner and some council members on Wednesday called troubling. Turner, reading a note from his legal department, said city investigators were unable to identify the culprits.
“It says no specific fireman was identified as the wrongdoer, so no discipline happened,” Turner said. “And that’s unfortunate.”
The consent decree means the city must take steps to remedy its troubled handling of the matter, according to Ahman.
Those efforts include developing and providing training for firefighters in the Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Division, where Draycott and Keyes worked. The training must explain the protections under the Civil Rights Act and lay out the city’s process for accepting and investigating complaints. The city has to submit that training program to the federal government within 60 days for approval.
“There’s monetary relief for Jane, which she’s very happy about, but what I think she’s more happy about is” the decree order, which will result in changes, Ahmad said.
Fire Chief Samuel Peña, hired by Turner in 2016, said the department would follow the decree and expand the training program department-wide so every firefighter receives it. It will be part of a continuing education assignment.
Firefighters already receive preventative sexual harassment training ona biannual basis, the chief said.
“Beyond the legal requirement, what’smost important is that if we do it right, we might be able to prevent sexual harassment,” Peña said.
Discrimination complaints now are routed to the department’s professional standards division, which then forwards them to the city’s Office of the InspectorGeneral for an independent investigation.
Female firefighters in 2018 told the Chronicle the department remains a hostile work environment for some.
During the lawsuit, city attorneys denied that Draycott was subjected to a hostile work environment or retaliation, and the settlement states that the city does not admit to any wrongdoing.
At City Hall, however, city council members were more candid in acknowledging and condemning the behavior described in the suit. They pledged to make changes to ensure it does not happen again.
“Some of the behavior I remember was despicable,” Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin said. “After hearing this and reading back into it, looking at some of the notes, it was embarrassing how they treated some of these ladies.”
Council member Robert Gallegos said “these women did not deserve that.”
Turner said the behavior described in the suit was “unacceptable then, and it’s unacceptable now.” The mayor said he has asked the legal department to explore additional policies to forbid discrimination.
“Whichmeans that if you go contrary to those city policies, I don’t have towait on the department director to move on you. As mayor of Houston, I will move on you,” Turner said. “If you don’t draw very clear lines and make it very clear, there will be employees or departments who assume they are operating on their own. And that is not the case. That culture, that type of thinking, must change.”