Michigan Firefighter Alleges Sexual Harassment

A Michigan firefighter who claims she was forced to resign due to the frat-house culture in her department has filed suit in federal court alleging sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation. Annie Wallen filed suit against the City of Jackson and three ranking officers.

Wallen alleges that the city failed to make any accommodations for her when she was hired as the department’s first female firefighter in 2019. She was issued ill-fitting male-size turnout gear and assigned to a station with no bath or shower facilities for women, no locks on the bathroom door, gang showers, and a group dorm in which all members slept. She borrowed PPE from neighboring fire departments, and struggled to make the accommodations work.

Quoting from the complaint:

• Wallen asked for a private place to change and shower repeatedly. At a minimum, she talked with Captains Joe Smith and Bob Walkowics and Chief Ermetanger. She was always told a fix “wasn’t in the budget.”
• For the first six months of employment, Wallen changed clothes in a janitor’s closet.
• Since she was the only woman and unwilling to shower alongside the men in an open shower room, this meant that she had to take the first or last shower separately from the men.
• Because of her rank, and the fact that she’d have to monopolize the area from all the other men (who could shower 4 or 5 at a time), she was almost always the last to shower.
• Because women firefighters have higher rates of cancers from the carcinogen exposure during fires, forcing her to wait hours (sometimes up to an entire shift) for the last shower was not only unfair, but it also put her at a greater risk than her male counterparts.
• There was also no lock to the door for the primary locker either at first. Wallen would use scotch tape across the door to let others know she was using the space. Eventually the Department purchased a lock, but still, locking it would prevent anyone else from accessing the entire locker room and shower area. 40.
• The very few times Wallen did lock the door to the main locker room so she could shower privately, other male firefighters would bang on the door until she finished, pressuring her to rush as quickly as possible.
• Wallen never had appropriate sleeping quarters either, and the Department did nothing to provide her with any level of privacy.
• The firefighters slept in a large room with no barriers or distinction for genders.
• Many of the men slept minimally clothed and without any regard to having a woman in the same dorm.
• Wallen has been told (and she believes it is true) that someone even urinated on her bed. There are also rumors that the incident was videotaped.
• In a meeting with Defendant Hitt, he admitted knowledge about this incident where someone in the Department urinated on her bed, or at least the rumors about it happening.
• There were porn stashes in the dorms where she and the rest of the firefighters slept.
• In another incident, a fellow firefighter placed the resuscitation mannequin dummies as if they were performing a sex act, where Wallen would be forced to see them.
• There was a group communication channel that documented extensive derogatory comments and acts pertaining to women. For instance, Lieutenant Shane Green took the entire B shift as a group to the strip club and shared a video of one of the probationary firefighters performing a sex act on one of the female dancers.
• Plaintiff was also told about the penis-measuring contests that happened in the showers and dorms.
• The frat-boy like atmosphere which Defendants permitted to exist made it impossible for Wallen (or any other woman) to ever feel comfortable and accepted at the Department.
• Defendants did nothing to prevent a variety of elements of a sexually-hostile, unprofessional working environment to exist.
• Wallen wanted to fit in. She wanted her colleagues to be like her brothers, and sometimes she reported it as such because she so desperately wanted it to be true. And with a handful of them, it was. But a handful of respectful, inclusive, mature firefighters who treated her like an equal wasn’t enough to overcome the consistent, perpetual discrimination and harassment she received from the rest—including leadership.
• Wallen did everything she could to become part of this group, but it was impossible in this hostile environment.
• The discrimination and harassment Wallen experienced increased during her time with the Department, no matter what she did, even after switching shifts multiple times.
• For example, in or around March of 2021, then-Chief Defendant Dave Wooden physically assaulted Wallen. One day in the Department kitchen, he came up behind her, grabbed her ponytail, yanked her head back and pulling her body into his. She pulled away, turned around and demanded that he stop, and he walked away.
• Some of the leaders on B shift, including Lieutenant Josh Gonzales, on this shift made it clear they didn’t believe women belonged in the Department and he was out to prove this with Wallen.
• Others in the Department have indicated to Plaintiff that Defendant Chief Gonzales also doesn’t believe that women belong in the Department.
• During her employment, fellow firefighters called Wallen names in a derogatory manner like bitch, dyke, and lesbian. Jokes were made about her being “on the rag” and not wanting to hire another woman because their menstrual cycles would “sync up.”
• Fellow firefighters also created and spread gender-based lies about her without repercussion from management.
• In or around October of 2022, Wallen followed the chain of command to report incidents of harassment and discrimination, but nothing changed.
• On October 31, 2022, Wallen left work early from a shift, feeling sick and overwhelmed with the discrimination and harassment she’d been receiving.
• Instead of responding appropriately to Wallen’s reports of harassment and discrimination, Defendants characterized the struggles she faced as her mental health problems. For some time, Defendants gaslighted her into thinking the problem was her and that she was not a good fit, instead of the constant discrimination and harassment she was receiving.
• On November 18, 2022, Wallen put in her notice to resign because she could no longer endure working in the Department.

The suit alleges sexual harassment, gender discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, and sexual discrimination and retaliation under Michigan’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. Wallen is seeking monetary damages and reinstatement. Here is a copy of the complaint: