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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake fire captain has filed a lawsuit against Salt Lake City, Mayor Jackie Biskupski, former Fire Chief Brian Dale and two other high-ranking fire officials, claiming she was retaliated against for "whistle-blowing."
Martha Ellis — who worked for the city for 21 years and in 2009 became the first woman in the history of the Salt Lake City Fire Department to hold the rank of division chief — filed the suit Thursday after submitting a notice of claim to the city in June.
In the court filing, Ellis alleges she was wrongfully demoted from chief to captain in May after she raised allegations that 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 last year — 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' attorney, Jaqualin Peterson, said Ellis has only decided to file the lawsuit because she's exhausted all other avenues of addressing the issue with the city.
"She's tried dealing with these issues at the lowest level and the city's been non-responsive," Peterson said.
Ellis names Biskupski, Dale, who is now retired, acting Fire Chief Karl Lieb and Assistant Fire Chief Rusty McMicken as officials who all participated in Ellis' demotion.
The lawsuit says Ellis "communicated in good faith" with Biskupski, the city's human resources department, the city attorney and executive members of the fire department that Dale, Lieb and McMicken had "engaged and/or were taking actions that violated various laws of Salt Lake City and the state."
"Thereafter, (Salt Lake City) and the fire department began a campaign against Ms. Ellis because of her complaints about and objections to both the fire department and the executive actions," the suit alleges.
Peterson said Ellis' claims revolve around serious concerns of potential mismanagement of public funds, as well as public safety issues. She said despite meeting face-to-face with the mayor, little was done to address the issues or prevent Ellis' demotion.
"We're dealing with public money and public safety," Peterson said. "When you're talking about those kinds of things, the city has a responsibility to the public. They should be concerned about these things, and (Ellis) feels, as a guardian of public funds, the mayor shouldn't have been so cavalier about these issues."
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Salt Lake firefighters file notice of potential lawsuit against city over 'violating fire code'
Four Salt Lake firefighters who were asleep in their own station when it caught fire a year ago have announced they may sue the city.Biskupski's spokesman, Matthew Rojas, declined to comment on the suit Wednesday.
"The city does not comment on ongoing litigation," he said.
Capt. Davin Halvorsen, interim fire department spokesman, also declined to comment.
Dale has recently retired with 30-year benefits. In his absence, Biskupski has appointed Lieb as the interim fire chief.
According to the filing, Ellis is asking for reinstatement, payment of lost compensation and employment benefits, dismissal of each defendant, and payment to cover the cost of attorneys fees and other damages.
The suit runs parallel with a separate complaint Ellis filed in 2014, claiming that she has also suffered sexual discrimination and harassment since 2012, when she was passed over twice for a promotion.
Related to that complaint, Peterson and Ellis point to city documents and recordings that they say reveal a sexist culture within the Salt Lake Fire Department. In a recording provided by Peterson, a male voice she said is Dale can be heard calling his female subordinates derogatory terms.
The city's human resources department has since concluded there was insufficient evidence to support allegations that Dale violated the city's harassment policy. But Peterson said Wednesday the complaint is still being processed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
