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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake fire captain's lawsuit against the city, Mayor Jackie Biskupski, former Fire Chief Brian Dale and two other high-ranking fire officials has been moved from state court to federal court.
Martha Ellis' discrimination and whistle-blowing claims will now be heard in U.S. District Court.
Ellis, who worked for the city for 22 years and in 2009 became the first woman to hold the rank of division chief in the Salt Lake City Fire Department, alleges she was wrongfully demoted from chief to captain last May after she claimed the department's top brass were using city time for personal activities and were committing payroll fraud.
In addition, Ellis claims she was retaliated against for raising concerns of state fire code violations by a lack of smoke detectors at Fire Station 2 — which caught fire in 2015 — and opposing the installation of bike lanes on 300 South, which caused the roadway to be narrower than what was allowed by state and city fire code.
Ellis originally filed the lawsuit in 3rd District Court in October 2016, but some of her claims fall under federal law.
