People were surprised when Fitzgerald was fired, Fort Worth interim police chief says
Everything seemed to happen suddenly on the day Fort Worth fired its first black police chief, according to the man who now runs the police department.
Joel Fitzgerald, the police chief who became unemployed on May 20, said he received no warning that he was in danger of losing his job. And Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus said in a deposition he received little notice that he was the city’s choice to temporarily fill the vacant position.
Fitzgerald, who subsequently named the city in a wrongful termination and whistleblower lawsuit brought by his attorney Stephen Kennedy, deposed Kraus on Nov. 6 to gather information about the events leading up to his firing.
Kennedy also represents William Birchett and Ronald Burke, who each worked in the city’s information technology department and who have also filed whistleblower lawsuits against the city.
About two hours before a hastily called press conference where city officials would announce the firing, Kraus was told that Fitzgerald was gone and that he was being offered the chief’s job on a temporary basis, according to a transcript of the deposition.
“It was very much a surprise that day,” Kraus told Kennedy.
Later during the deposition, Kraus said a lot of people were surprised. Kraus was instructed to gather members of the police command staff for the press conference, but was told not to tell anyone what the press conference was about.
There was a meeting that lasted about 15 minutes with City Manager David Cooke and Assistant City Manager Jay Chapa and a short walk to a city council work session room where Fitzgerald’s firing was announced to the press, Kraus said during the deposition.
Moments after the press conference, Kraus said during an interview that it was his goal to mend rifts in the community and help heal officers in the department who were hurting.
Computer security issues
Less than a month later, on June 6, Fitzgerald filed a lawsuit alleging that he was fired in order to derail a meeting with an FBI official where he would outline an investigation into noncompliance issues concerning a computer system that gives local law enforcement access to federal information.
Officials in Fort Worth’s information technology division had previously assured a state auditor that security issues making that computer system vulnerable had been fixed. But Fitzgerald said he later discovered those computer security issues had not been fixed.
Fitzgerald alleges that he was fired only minutes before the scheduled meeting with the FBI.
Kraus, whose previous job was executive assistant chief over the patrol bureau, said during the deposition that he was told about the investigation into the security issues in January.
Fitzgerald said he met with Cooke and other city officials before his firing was announced to Kraus.
The city gave Fitzgerald a choice: Either he could take a lump sum payment in exchange for agreeing not to sue the city or to provide any support to others suing the city for whistleblower violations, or he could be terminated for cause and engage the city in a protracted court fight, his lawsuit says.
Fitzgerald chose to sue
Kennedy asked Kraus if it was unreasonable for the city not to allow Fitzgerald to have his termination paperwork reviewed by an attorney before making up his mind about the choices before him. The deposition shows that Kraus hesitated to answer, saying that he didn’t know if Fitzgerald was denied access to legal counsel.
Kennedy asked Kraus to assume what Fitzgerald said happened did happen, according to the deposition.
“If I assume that fact, then I would expect that they would give him an opportunity to do that,” Kraus said.
After Fitzgerald was fired, a general discharge rather than a honorable discharge was recorded on termination documents filed with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, Kraus said. During the week of May 23, Fitzgerald contacted Kraus because he was concerned about the wording on the discharge paperwork, according to the deposition.
The police chief can change the discharge designation at his discretion, but Kraus said he elected not to do that.
Kennedy and Kraus discussed the impact of receiving the general discharge designation on Fitzgerald’s ability to get another job, and Kraus said he could see how that might affect those efforts.
“I’ll represent to you that we have numerous, 30, 40, 50 — more than 50 rejections from various towns,” Kennedy said during the deposition. “Do you think maybe your honorable versus general discharge had any effect on all of those rejections?”
Christopher Troutt, Fort Worth city attorney, objected to the question on the basis of form. Kraus answered.
“I — I would concede that it’s probably part of the issue, yes,” Kraus said.
Kraus said during the deposition that had Fitzgerald accepted the resignation package that the city offered, he would have been given an honorable discharge.
“And then he walks with a honorable discharge and maybe he gets a job, maybe he’s considered for one of these other jobs we’ve talked about, right?” Kennedy asked
Troutt objects to the question, again on the basis of form. Kraus answers.
“It’s speculation, but yes,” he says.
Kraus said that he is surprised that Fitzgerald has not received more interest from cities in search of a police chief.
“I worked with the man for three-and-a-half years,” Kraus said. “He’s got a Ph.D. He’s been a chief of three different departments, successively larger, and including the 13th largest city in the country.”
One of the things Fitzgerald is seeking should his lawsuit be successful is reinstatement to his position as Fort Worth police chief. State District Judge Gena Slaughter has ordered that the city not permanently fill the police chief’s position, but the city is challenging that ruling.
The ruling on Slaughter’s order prohibiting the city from permanently filling the position expires Tuesday. A hearing is scheduled for next week to decide whether the city will be allowed to hire someone to permanently fill the job prior to the resolution of Fitzgerald’s lawsuit.
Kraus, Cooke, Chapa and Mayor Betsy Price are among the witnesses expected to testify at the hearing.
