Fort Worth city IT manager fired over messages about female co-workers’ attractiveness

A city of Fort Worth IT manager has been fired after an investigation revealed that he and another employee exchanged inappropriate instant messages regarding female colleagues during work hours and on city equipment.

David Callahan was fired May 21 following an investigation by the city’s Employee and Labor Relations Division of an anonymous complaint received April 4.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Callahan said he believes the city “construed” the instant message conversation into more than it actually was. He said he was an eight-year employee of the city who had never been disciplined or had a bad review. He said he believes he was only fired because of the politics in the IT department over the recently filed whistleblower lawsuits.

According to Callahan’s termination letter, obtained by the Star-Telegram through an open records request, the anonymous complaint filed through the city’s EthicsPoint reporting system accused Callahan and his subordinate, Stephen Doss, of exchanging numerous instant messages of a sexual nature.

“The anonymous complaint specifically referenced an instant-message conversation where you and Doss vividly discussed, during work hours, a female colleague’s buttocks and ranked other female colleagues by attractiveness or sexual desirability and sexual orientation,” states the letter, signed by Acting IT Solutions Director Roger Wright. “This instant-message conversation, and others like it, were made using your work credentials and city-issued equipment.”

The letter states Callahan, 44, was allowed to view the instant messages exchanged with Doss during the investigation.

“You confirmed that you and Doss had discussed several female colleagues in instant messages but you did not believe the instant messages were inappropriate,” the letter states.

Wright wrote that “not only were the instant messages you exchanged with Doss inappropriate,” but they also violated the city’s rules and regulations.

Callahan said the instant message conversation had been with an employee that he considered a friend and was like a brother.

“We had candid conversations. We had had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of conversations, obviously, and out of all the hundreds of conversations we had, this is the one that another employee provided to them when they accessed this data that they were not supposed to be accessing,” Callahan said.

Callahan said even an attorney he showed the messages to described them as “innocuous and harmless.” He said the messages contained no profanity and were meant to be “lighthearted and in jest” and that he was shocked when he was fired over them, rather than written up, placed on unpaid leave, or even demoted.

“I just didn’t feel like what we had done was that bad,” Callahan said. “Granted, I agree it was inappropriate but again it was a conversation that was supposed to be a private conversation between myself and a subordinate of mine and it was never supposed to see the light of day.”

Because he was a manager and not under contract, Callahan says he cannot appeal.

“I’m embarrassed and ashamed by it because it’s unfortunate,” he said. “For a sense of humor, if you will, I have lost my job.”

City officials say Doss remains on administrative leave.

Doss did not return messages seeking comment.

This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Fort Worth city IT manager fired over messages about female co-workers’ attractiveness."