Judge denies injunction but says timing of Fort Worth police chief’s firing ‘stinks’
Fort Worth can go forward with a search for a new police chief, State District Judge Gena Slaughter ruled Thursday.
Slaughter’s order overturned a prior temporary injunction that prevented the city from hiring a new police chief while former chief Joel Fitzgerald’s lawsuit is pending.
A hearing on the issue, which began Monday in Dallas, concluded Thursday with closing arguments before Slaughter made her ruling.
After listening to three days of testimony, Slaughter was critical of the way the city documented and investigated Fitzgerald’s firing.
“I’m seriously concerned about the behavior of the city’s officials” she said.
Slaughter specifically mentioned the timing of Fitzgerald’s two performance evaluations being offered for his signature nearly a year and more than a year late.
“To be honest, the timing of this smells,” Slaughter said.
Slaughter also said that she did not believe the city adequately investigated a confrontation between Fitzgerald and a police union official in Washington, DC., that city administrators have said was the “tipping point” that led them to fire the chief.
Unlike the civil trials that she normally presides over where there are few witnesses, several people witnessed the D.C. incident, Slaughter said.
The Fitzgerald firing was also inadequately documented, she said. There was time to properly document the deficiencies that the city felt were reasons to fire Fitzgerald, Slaughter said.
Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke’s testimony was problematic if not questionable, Slaughter said. And the city’s charter is confusing and ambiguous, she said.
“I think this stinks,” Slaughter said.
City Attorney Carolyn McFatridge said she’s confident that once jurors evaluate the facts at a full trial, they’ll come to a different conclusion.
Slaughter got only the “readers digest” version of the case, McFatridge said.
The search process for a new police chief has not started, according to a city spokeswoman. Cooke will announce updates on that process as it goes forward, the spokeswoman said.
McFatridge said the city and residents are happy with the job that Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus is doing and there are no immediate plans to change anything. Kraus hasn’t said if he’s interested in keeping the job permanently.
“The city manager needs to run the business and the court does not need to be in the middle of that,” McFatridge said. “This will allow the city manager and the city council to run the business of the city and the police department in the way they see that’s best for our citizens.”
‘We deserve another shot’
Attorney Stephen Kennedy, who is representing Fitzgerald in his whistleblower lawsuit against the city, has demanded Fitzgerald receive an appeal hearing in front of the city council regarding his termination, which he says is required by the city charter. Fitzgerald, who was fired in May, also wants his job back.
Now the a ruling has been issued, Fitzgerald said he and his attorney are ready to go to trial in front of a jury.
“Judging by what you heard in the courtroom today, her chastising the city for the way things were done here will play well in the future for us,” Fitzgerald said. “I think again, we’re looking at a jury of our peers and again, I think anyone who looks at this critically ... might think we deserve another shot.”
Fitzgerald sought the injunction so he could make a case for indefinitely delaying the hiring of a new chief while his lawsuit is pending. In July, Slaughter approved the temporary restraining order that expired this week.
Cooke testified Wednesday that Fitzgerald was fired because of a series of issues with his performance that included budgeting problems and Fitzgerald’s relationship with the community. The “tipping point” came when Fitzgerald engaged in a heated confrontation with a top Texas state union official at a national event honoring fallen officers, Cooke said.
Fitzgerald says he was fired unjustly. The case hinges on whether the city retaliated against Fitzgerald for applying for the police chief position in Baltimore and for investigating city officials in the IT department for misrepresenting facts prior to a CJIS compliance audit. The Criminal Justice Information Services system, or CJIS, is a federally maintained computer network designed to share law enforcement information nationwide.
Fitzgerald testified that he believed the city put residents at risk by not acting quickly and decisively enough to fix problems with CJIS. He said he was scheduled to meet with the FBI about his investigation of the computer security issues on the day he was fired.
In closing arguments Thursday, Fort Worth City Attorney Lynn Winter argued that Fitzgerald was trying to control the city’s hiring practices.
The computer security violations that Fitzgerald spoke of during the hearing were not violations of law, Winter said.
But Slaughter said that some violations that were addressed during the hearing might rise to the level of a crime.
Kennedy, Fitzgerald’s attorney, said in his closing argument that all the boxes to get an injunction prohibiting the hiring of a permanent police chief had been checked.
“The question is did he believe there was a violation of the law,“ Kennedy said. “It will be up to someone else to determine whether there was an actual violation of the law.”
Winter also argued that Fitzgerald neglected to show that he would suffer any irreparable harm if the city hired his permanent replacement.
But Kennedy argued that because Fitzgerald is a public figure with a national reputation, reinstatement is the only remedy. Fitzgerald says he has received more than 100 rejection letters while looking for a new job.
According to lawyers representing Fort Worth, it will not affect Fitzgerald if the city hires a new police chief. If the court later rules that Fitzgerald must be reinstated, whoever is hired as chief would have to step down, Winter argued. Or the city could pay Fitzgerald additional money damages, she said.
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 12:11 PM.
