Is ex-Fort Worth chief’s battle with city over? Fitzgerald wins an honorable discharge
A judge has ruled that the discharge designation for fired former Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald must be changed to honorable.
Fitzgerald, who was fired in May 2019, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city asking that he be restored to his former position, and that lawsuit is pending.
“The next phase I’m sure, is moving to a jury trial,” Fitzgerald said Friday.
The judge’s ruling was issued Friday following an administrative hearing process that closed in March, according to court documents.
In a 46-page order, Administrative Judge Michelle Kallas examined testimony from a number of witnesses and concluded that city officials did not prove the allegations that were offered as reasons for Fitzgerald’s firing and for his being given a general discharge versus an honorable discharge.
Stephen Kennedy, the attorney who is representing Fitzgerald and two other former city employees in whistleblower lawsuits, said the next step is a trial in front of a Dallas County jury.
“We look forward to trying the whistleblower causes of action before a Dallas jury later this year,” Kennedy said. “There are elements of this story yet to be heard, including evidence that the City diverted lucrative contracts to specific vendors and failed to follow competitive bidding.”
In April, the Waterloo, Iowa City Council approved a measure hiring Fitzgerald as the city’s first African-American police chief, which is the same designation he obtained in Fort Worth in 2015. Fitzgerald, who is working as chief deputy with the Philadelphia Sheriff’s Office, is expected to begin his position in Waterloo, a city with a population of about 65,000, on June 1.
Fort Worth city officials have consistently said that Fitzgerald was fired because he failed to exercise good judgment and exhibited poor leadership during his tenure as police chief, claims which Fitzgerald’s legal team publicly challenged in court.
In July, the Texas Workforce Commission found that there was no evidence that Fitzgerald acted inappropriately during a police awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. , which some city officials described as the tipping point that led to his firing.
“We now have two state agencies that have said these allegations are false,” Kennedy said. “But this is the first time that anyone has really taken the time to assess in detail the facts and evaluate each witness that was called.”
According to a statement from the city of Fort Worth, this latest ruling has not caused officials to change their position.
“This ruling is nothing more than a clarification in characterizing the former chief’s termination and has nothing to do with, and doesn’t affect, ongoing litigation in this matter,” an emailed statement from the city of Fort Worth said.
“We viewed a general discharge as the appropriate administrative designation because there were numerous issues of judgment and performance that led to the decision to terminate the former chief. While we disagree with the outcome, we will continue to protect the interests of our community and, at this time, the City of Fort Worth’s focus is the continued health and safety of all residents as we combat COVID-19 and respond to this global pandemic.”
After reviewing Fitzgerald’s performance evaluations and merit-based raises, the court concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove that he had a documented performance problem while at the department, the order said.
Fitzgerald testified during a hearing in Dallas that he had applied for more than 100 jobs but was blocked from consideration because now Police Chief Ed Kraus gave the ex-chief a general rather than an honorable discharge.
And Fitzgerald and his legal team has long asserted that the former chief was fired because he applied for the chief’s position in Baltimore and tried to report computer security violations to federal authorities.
“There was no basis for this (Fitzgerald’s general discharge) from the start,” Kennedy said. “This whole concept that he lacked leadership was a way to reinforce the system of social stratification that they have operated in since the 50s.”
This story includes information from Star-Telegram archives.
