Fort Worth says it will appeal judge’s order on documents related to Fitzgerald

The city says it will appeal a Dallas judge’s order to produce thousands of documents related to the firing of former Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, calling it an “unprecedented fishing expedition.”

The city had asked that either Associate Judge Monica Purdy or Judge Gena Slaughter limit the amount of documents the city must produce. Slaughter denied the request and ordered the city to produce the documents by Sept. 16, before attorney Stephen Kennedy questions Fort Worth City Manager David Cooke, Assistant City Manager Jay Chapa and Manny Ramirez, president of the Fort Worth Police Officers Association.

Fitzgerald is seeking reinstatement to his former position and claims his firing was in retaliation for conducting an investigation into city corruption.

Searching for Fitzgerald’s name in every city employee’s email alone would take more than 8,966 employee hours, the city said in the appeal. On Tuesday the city said the request includes written and digital documents, emails and text messages for 35 search terms for over 7,000 employees, including a review of every document on each employee’s desk.

The city wanted the number of documents limited because staff physically can’t get it done in the time frame required, a spokeswoman said.

“The City continues to maintain that it acted appropriately and within the bounds of the law,” it said in a statement.

The appeal will likely be filed Tuesday or Wednesday.

Fitzgerald said in a motion filed on Aug. 21 that the city ignored instructions from the court to deliver city officials for questioning and to produce evidence in the case, even though the two parties had agreed to exchange evidence.

Fitzgerald alleges that the city has previously destroyed evidence important to his case in the form of instant messages that were transmitted between two employees working in the city’s information technology department.

Fitzgerald filed a whistleblower lawsuit after he was terminated in May. Fitzgerald claims that he was fired because he was conducting an investigation into compliance issues with the city’s crime reporting systems.

The city has maintained that Fitzgerald was fired because of failure to exercise sound judgment and leadership.