Judge delivers setback in Fort Worth ex-police chief’s lawsuit over 2019 firing
A judge has barred Fort Worth former Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald from obtaining an internal investigation report involving a whistleblower complaint, which he had sought as part of his long-running lawsuit since he was fired in 2019.
The Dallas County judge heard subpoenaed testimony Friday from City Manager David Cooke and a former city attorney. She ruled that the internal report was protected by attorney-client privilege.
The report details the findings from a city investigation after Kirk Slaughter, the former head of public events, complained that a bid process for a parking management contract was unfair. The contract for Will Rogers Memorial Center was awarded to Trail Drive Management Corp., the nonprofit that ran the city-owned Dickies Arena. Slaughter complained that a former assistant city manager influenced the bid process.
Fitzgerald, who filed his lawsuit in May 2019 shortly after his firing, alleges he was let go after trying to uncover corruption in the city’s IT department. City officials say Fitzgerald was dismissed due to poor leadership and a confrontation at a 2019 conference in Washington after he was removed from the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas.
The Texas Workforce Commission found in July 2019 there was no evidence Fitzgerald had committed misconduct. The city was asked by courts in May 2020 to change Fitzgerald’s discharge designation to honorable.
Fitzgerald was recently hired as the chief of police and emergency management at Regional Transportation District in Denver, Colorado. His lawsuit against Fort Worth sought reinstatement to his job and damages.
The city has spent $500,000 fighting the case as of May.
In Friday’s hearing in downtown Dallas, former Fort Worth city attorney Sarah Fullenwider told the judge that the city’s investigation into Slaughter’s complaint was passed to the city auditor’s office. That was so that the city attorney could form a legal opinion for Cooke. Investigations into whistleblower complaints had previously not gone through the auditor’s office, Fullenwider said.
Cooke gave brief testimony to confirm that the investigation went to through the auditor’s office.
Judge Marciela Moore with the 162nd Judicial District Court said she still had questions about whether the names of the people who were interviewed during the internal investigation is protected information. She asked Fitzgerald’s attorney, Stephen Kennedy of Dallas, and Fort Worth city attorneys to come back with more information.
This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 3:43 PM.
CORRECTION: Joel Fitzgerald works as the chief of police and emergency management for the Regional Transportation District in Denver, Colorado.
