The city of Norfolk kicked off Women’s History Month on Monday by honoring 18 female firefighters.
“Some women blaze a trail,” read the news release, announcing a special “Women Trailblazers” ceremony to be held later this month. “And others put blazes out.”
But quietly in the background that morning, attorneys for the city and a retired female firefighter were working on something much more expensive: settling a gender discrimination lawsuit.
Settlement paperwork regarding Karen Barnes’ case is still being finalized, but a city spokeswoman said Norfolk officials have agreed to pay $87,000 to settle the matter, while not admitting any wrongdoing.
Barry Montgomery, Barnes’ attorney, and John DiBacco, the newly appointed Norfolk Fire-Rescue chief, declined to comment.
The settlement comes six months after the city agreed to pay a gay firefighter $118,000 to settle another discrimination lawsuit. A third such suit, filed by a female fire investigator named Karen Baka, remains pending.
In its news release, the city said Norfolk Fire-Rescue is welcoming to women even though firefighting is “often perceived as a male profession.” It noted that women have worked as firefighters in the city since 1979, when Pamela Ells joined the old Norfolk Fire Department.
Over the next three years, four more women joined.
“These women faced many challenges but continued to pave the way for those who follow decades later,” the release said.
Several more women have come and gone over the years, including Marcia Hawkins, who rose to the rank of assistant chief before retiring.
The release said there are currently 40 women employed with Norfolk Fire-Rescue, one of whom is a member of the Special Ops Technical Rescue team. Two others are lieutenants, three are captains and one is a battalion chief.
Data on the city website says 42 of 504 Fire-Rescue employees — 8% — are women.
Barnes’ lawsuit described a far less friendly environment for female firefighters. It says senior staff — including since-retired Chief Jeffrey Wise — treated them less favorably than their male colleagues and then retaliated when they complained.
According to the suit, Barnes started working for the city in 1985 as an EMT officer. Overtime, she was promoted to assistant city fire marshal, given law enforcement powers and authorized to carry a weapon.
In late 2014, Barnes, Baka and other female employees of the Norfolk Fire Marshal’s Office started asking their colleagues to write letters of complaint regarding an alleged hostile work environment. They believed female employees were bring treated worse than male colleagues.
One captain was reassigned in the wake of the complaints, but Battalion Chief Roger Burris remained in command, according to the suit.
The lawsuit said Burris didn’t like the letter writing campaign. He started yelling at Barnes in the fall of 2015 and sending her demeaning emails he would then copy to her colleagues, the suit said.
Command staff also were treating Barnes less favorably than similarly situated male employees, the suit said. She and other female employees were barred from some training opportunities and denied the chance to work on the city’s bar task force.
Barnes repeatedly complained to her superiors in late 2015 and early 2016, but the suit said she saw no relief.
From January 2016 through March 2016, Wise “routinely belittled” Barnes in front of her colleagues, the suit said.
Barnes eventually gave up in May 2016, choosing to retire.
But the disparate treatment didn’t stop there. Wise denied Barnes’ request to buy her service weapon and obtain a retired law enforcement officer concealed weapon permit even though her male colleagues had been granted such a privilege.
Wise retired in January 2019 after more than 40 years in public service.
While Barnes retired, Baka remains with the Norfolk Fire Marshal’s office as an investigator.
In her suit, Baka claims she was repeatedly passed over for promotions in 2017 and 2018. The jobs went instead to less qualified men, the suit said.
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