City pays $900,000 to settle two lawsuits filed by former and current Lincoln firefighters

Margaret Reist – Jan 29, 2024 – Lincoln Journal Star

A current and former Lincoln firefighter who sued the city alleging discrimination have settled their lawsuits for a combined total of $900,000.

The city agreed to pay former firefighter Amanda Benson $650,000 to settle a lawsuit she filed in U.S. District Court in 2018, alleging the city ignored complaints she filed about a hostile work environment, exonerated employees who contributed to it and didn’t take steps to fix the problems.

The $250,000 settlement with firefighter Jessie Lundvall involves a lawsuit she filed against the city in Lancaster County District Court in 2022 alleging discrimination based on sex, sex stereotypes and retaliation.

The settlements bring the amount the city has paid as a result of lawsuits involving discrimination or retaliation in the fire department to $1.78 million.

The City Council got reports on the Benson and Lundvall settlements because of their large amounts and made no comments Monday before accepting the reports, though City Attorney Yohance Christie provided a written statement after the meeting.

“The city does not tolerate discrimination or harassment in the workplace,” he said. “We have strong anti-discrimination policies and work continuously to foster a safe and inclusive workplace.”

Benson, who commented on the settlement through her attorney, said she has been a relentless advocate for her civil rights and those of others, but she paid a price for it.

“Every taxpayer in Lincoln should be furious at the willingness of the city and the mayor to spend tax dollars on legal battles instead of fixing the longstanding problems,” she said. “This was my life. This was my livelihood. I was proud to serve the citizens of Lincoln. I was proud to wear the uniform. No one deserves to go through what I did. I hope my efforts have made a difference for other female first responders.”

Lundvall, through her attorney, said her termination was a series of unfortunate and unnecessary actions by the city.

“This experience was extremely difficult and costly for me and my family,” she said “Unfortunately, some of those costs have been passed onto Lincoln’s hardworking taxpayers.”

Lundvall was reinstated to her job with Lincoln Fire and Rescue in May and she said she’s looking forward to closing a chapter and moving on.

“I pray no one else will ever have to experience what I did and hope the leaders of this city take the corrective actions necessary to improve for all of LFR’s employees and not repeat the past.”

The city had already paid two other firefighters alleging they were retaliated against for reporting harassment toward female a female firefighter.

In 2019, a federal jury awarded Troy Hurd, then a captain at LFR, $1.1 million. The judgment later was reduced by a judge, and the city agreed to pay Hurd $600,000 to avoid a second trial.

In 2020, the city agreed to pay Brian Giles, also a captain at LFR, $280,000 to settle his lawsuit arising from the same allegations.

The city also has been the subject of lawsuits by five current and former Lincoln Police officers who allege the department is guilty of years of systemic harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

The city settled one of those cases, agreeing to pay Sara Williams $65,000.

Two other former police officers are among those who have filed discrimination charges with the state’s Equal Opportunity Commission.

In the latest settlements, the city agreed to pay Benson $600,000 for emotional distress and $50,000 in wages. She also can submit her attorney’s fees to the court, which will consider whether the city should pay.

The settlement also allows Benson to pursue her claims to the U.S. and state equal opportunity commissions arising after she was fired in 2021, and says nothing arising from the settlement can prejudice her pursuing a disability pension.

Lundvall’s settlement includes more than $116,000 in attorneys fees, $15,000 in “non-wage damages” and more than $118,000 to purchase her an annuity.

The settlement makes clear that she is an employee in good standing, that there are no pending investigations regarding her employment and her previous termination won’t be considered in any promotion or disciplinary actions.

Both settlements include fairly standard language that the city and other defendants admit no liability, and Lundvall, Benson and city officials agree not to defame each other.

Benson had worked as a firefighter/EMT since 2013, and was fired Nov. 2, 2021, after accusing Capt. Shawn Mahler of abandoning her team in a burning building.

An attorney representing the city said Benson was fired for what the attorney characterized as an “unconscionable lie.” Benson denies she lied, and after arbitration, she was reinstated a year later. She resigned last year.

In August, U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher allowed the case to go forward to a jury, and a trial had been scheduled to start in September.

Buescher ruled that Benson alleged she was subjected to sexual discrimination and harassment “for almost the entirety of her employment with LFR,” and a jury could conclude the numerous incidents of ridicule and insult she claimed to have suffered were sufficiently pervasive and didn’t involve merely a few isolated incidents, as city officials contended.

Lundvall alleged that since she was hired in 2014 she faced questions and requirements that other male employees did not.

She was fired in May 2021, after a series of events that involved fire department officials “secretly surveilling her” as part of an investigation into whether she was falsifying time cards and improperly working remotely, which she was initially encouraged to do because of the pandemic.

Her attorney alleged she was fired because, in part, she was a witness in the Benson case and because she’d advised the city she planned to sue.