Mississippi Fire Fighters Win Discrimination Lawsuit

Jackson, MS – Four female fire fighters have won a sexual harassment lawsuit against five colleagues at the Jackson, Mississippi, Fire Department.

A jury awarded Tiffany Alexander, Sandra Hawkins, Jacqueline Moore and Stacy Prophet compensatory damages of $657,000 and $100,000 in punitive damages against the fire chief, division chief and three captains – all individual defendants in the case.

The jury found that the four IAFF members were subjected to ongoing, unlawful sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation on the job at the fire department.

“We have righted a very serious wrong,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “This is a significant win for these four women and the entire IAFF membership as it demonstrates what an effective union can do to enforce legal protections and secure justice for members who are abused on the job and who deserve justice and full relief.”

In 2003, the IAFF – through its legal counsel Woodley and McGillivary – filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) claim on behalf of the four women. But the mediation process that ensued failed when the City argued it had no authority to settle the case. “The City simply refused to take responsibility,” says Molly Elkin, a partner at Woodley & McGillivary.

The IAFF quickly took on the case under its Guardian Policy, which provides members with legal representation, filing a lawsuit in federal court under Title VII – starting a legal battle that took four years to resolve.

“This jury did what the City and the fire department couldn’t do for four years,” says Ellen Eardley, an associate at Woodley & McGillivary. “The City and its attorneys opposed us at every turn, resisting all efforts to settle the case on a fair and reasonable basis. They now undoubtedly regret that ill-advised approach.”

Moore is still an active member of the fire department, but the other three plaintiffs are not. “It’s a loss to the City of Jackson Fire Department to not have these women as fire fighters,” says Jackson, MS Local 87 President Brendan Falcon. “They were amazing fire fighters.”

The defendants are former employees of the Jackson Fire Department.

The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents more than 280,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics who protect 80 percent of the nation’s population. More information is available at www.iaff.org.

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