Tampa Firefighter Suing for Sexual Harassment Is Fired
A Tampa firefighter who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit in March, was terminated the following day. Tanja Vidovic was terminated by the Tampa Fire Department on March 24, one day after she filed suit in federal court accusing the fire department of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
According to a memo signed by Tampa Fire Chief Thomas Forward, Vidovic was fired for violating regulations regarding moral turpitude, including “falsification, misrepresentation or material omission.” The memo is referenced in several news reports related to the story, but does not appear to be available online.
Vidovic’s lawsuit, filed on March 23, 2016 in US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, alleges gender discrimination, sexual harassment – hostile work environment, and retaliation. It includes a number of instances where she claims she was treated differently on account of her gender, unfairly given poor evaluations by supervisors, and subjected to sexually harassing comments.
Despite the implication in the news headlines about the timing of the firing coming one-day after the filing of the lawsuit, it is unclear from the news reports whether there was indeed a retaliatory connection, or whether Vidovic timed the filing of the suit to beat the termination notice.
Here is a copy of the complaint: Vidovoc v City of Tampa
After reading the story and the follow up from the Tampa Times it sure sounds like she has a case. I have had so many women in classes and they have never shied away from anything asked of them. The thing is there are still places where the facilities have not been upgraded to allow for both genders living together.
From the looks of things, the FD’s in Florida just don’t seem to aware of Title VII and other non discrimination Laws.
Item 62 in the Complaint is so outrageously False!
So, once again the Tampa FD shows that firings from the Chief on down through his Command Staff should occur.
Oh wait. The City will pay $ Millions of dollars and the perpetrators will keep their jobs.
But wait, the next 5 new fire engines won’t be able to be purchased for anothe five years, nor will fire station living modifications be done because of:
“Lack of Money”
I just hope this case goes differently than the one in Illinois.
As a white male firefighter who once took legal action to right a wrong in the workplace, I feel I’m a credible witness for the plaintiff. Taking the action of filing a lawsuit, especially a federal lawsuit, to correct a perceived injustice is not something one takes lightly. Not only is there the inevitable backlash, there is also the financial burden and emotional stress involved.
Just a victims of rape are considered “culpable until proven otherwise”, so it seems are women firefighters who only seek to do a job that they’ve aspired to and enjoy doing are too frequently “pre-judged” as well by too man men, and sadly, too many women as well. I’ve written on this topic several times and I’m sharing those links below.
If You’re a Male Firefighter You Should be Mad, Too
http://www.fireemsleaderpro.org/2015/04/07/harassment-fire-service/
Male Privilege in the Fire Service
http://www.fireemsleaderpro.org/2015/10/13/male-privilege-fire-service/