FORT WORTH, Texas – The Fort Worth City Council has approved a multimillion-dollar settlement in connection with its former police chief’s wrongful termination lawsuit.
The few speakers at the Fort Worth City Council meeting on Tuesday said the agreement brought closure, but still expressed disappointment that it had happened at all.
A five-year legal battle between the city of Fort Worth and its former top police officer has reached the finish line.
The City Council unanimously approved an agreement to pay a total of $9.6 million to three former employees, including former Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, to settle their whistleblower lawsuits against the city.
The settlement followed costly litigation involving Fitzgerald and former IT employees William Birchett and Ronald Burke, who sued the city, claiming they were fired in retaliation for reporting city violations.
Fitzgerald says he was fired in 2019, shortly before he was scheduled to meet with FBI investigators.
Attorney Stephen Kennedy represented the three former employees and was present at the mediation with the city.
“I think it’s fair to say there were differing views on both sides about what the facts showed,” he said.
Kennedy says Fitzgerald will receive $5.2 million from the settlement, Birchett will receive $2.4 million and Burke will receive $2 million.
“It is an acceptable solution that was felt to be acceptable by all during the mediation,” Kennedy said.
Fort Worth officials appeal order to release documents in Joel Fitzgerald lawsuit
Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker released a statement after the vote, saying, “It is both tiring and unnecessary to continue to debate an individual who has not been employed by the city for over five years. It is time to leave this where it belongs – in the past.”
Fitzgerald also issued a statement after the settlement was approved.
“After five long years, I simply want to continue my career without the stigma that comes with the city’s termination letter, and this settlement addresses that issue,” he said. “I would have loved to end my career as police chief in Fort Worth, but the reality is that sometimes it’s hard to do the right thing when no one is watching, and there are consequences. You only get so many opportunities in life to defend your family name, and that was mine.”
The city of Fort Worth continues to deny liability in the three cases.
