Star Tribune
Lexington settles lawsuit with whistleblowers who reported misconduct in city’s fire department
Lexington has settled a lawsuit filed by two former employees who claimed the small Anoka County suburb violated the state’s Whistleblower Act when they were terminated after reporting alleged misconduct within the city’s Fire Department.
Firefighter Mindy Fiester was awarded $65,000, and Todd Messer, firefighter and captain, was awarded $45,000, according to terms of the settlement approved June 20 by the Lexington City Council. The settlement followed a mediation session in April.
The payments come from the city’s insurance provider, the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, bringing an end to a case that has gone on for almost three years and fueled conflict between city leaders. The trust decided to settle for a variety of reasons, including the potential for costly litigation.
“The attorney’s fees and possibly other damages could have been far in excess of what the settlement was,” City Attorney Kurt Glaser said. “The League was wise to put this money out there and close this matter.”
In settling the case, the city made no admission of liability for the claims and said it looks forward to moving on from the suit.
That may be easier said than done. Some City Council members at last week’s meeting said the suit could have been avoided. They accused Gary Grote, former fire chief and current mayor, of lying and denying that he knew but failed to act on the allegations of sexual abuse brought forth by Fiester in December 2020.
“I did not know about the incident,” Grote said in response to the accusation from Council Member Mike Murphy at the meeting. Grote said he would “put my hand on a Bible and swear to it.”
The lawsuit said Fiester went to Grote with an allegation that another firefighter had sexually abused a minor child. Several months later, Fiester brought up the incident again when she met with Grote for a performance review. In July 2021, she told Messer about the case and that no action had been taken, the suit said.
A month later, Fiester met with Glaser and City Administrator Bill Petracek and learned she was being investigated for not complying with rules for mandated reporters. Fiester was given the option of resigning or being terminated. She left the department in November 2021.
Messer met with Grote in July 2021 and brought up Fiester’s issue, telling Grote the other firefighter’s behavior was “unbecoming,” “illegal” and “fell under the category of gross misconduct.” Grote said he could not suspend the firefighter because there were no criminal charges in the case, the complaint said.
Two months later, Messer was called to a meeting with Grote and was told a city attorney was investigating him. In November 2021, Messer was informed he was being terminated for not complying with rules for mandated reporters, discussing the accused firefighter’s behavior during an officer’s meeting, seeking advice from a fire chief in another jurisdiction and having red and blue lights in his vehicle, the lawsuit said.
Messer’s impression was that the city terminated employees associated with reporting the firefighter’s alleged actions and resigned in December 2021, the suit said.
Minnesota’s Whistleblower Act says no employer shall discharge any employee who in good faith reports a violation, a suspected violation or planned violation of state or federal law. Fiester and Messer sued because they said they suffered emotional distress, humiliation, pain and suffering, loss of wages, benefits and “other damages,” the suit said.
The accused firefighter no longer works for the city, Petracek said.
The investigation revealed that Fiester recorded the meeting when she was in for a performance review and the discussion about the lack of progress in investigating the firefighter’s behavior. The tape appeared to have revealed Grote knew about the allegations, but didn’t take action.
That was a testy issue at the June 20 meeting before the council approved the settlement. Murphy said Grote had been lying under oath.
“We have evidence that is even documented that proves you lied under oath,” Murphy said.
“I was transparent,” replied Grote, whose mayoral term ends at the end of the year. He said he started investigating once he had all the information. “I know you want to run for mayor, Mike, and you are going to do whatever you can to make me look bad,” Grote said.
Asked if he’d release the tape and transcript to the public, Grote said, “Why would you want to do that? I don’t want that interview to get on the tape or out to the public. They don’t need to hear about it.”
Kristen O’Brien not only signed the petition, she and her children went out to gather signatures as well.
In odd-numbered years, she said, St. Paul elections have been dominated “by a very small pod of folks” motivated by specific issues, like rent control or the sales tax. She said she doubts the local election will be dwarfed by national and state politics.
“I think most people go into federal elections knowing who they’re going to vote for,” she said, adding the same is true for local issues and races.
In the months since the petitions were accepted, the issue has garnered little public debate. In fact, Butler said he did not plan to campaign for the proposal once it’s on the ballot. Regarding Jalali’s concerns, he said a number of other cities, including San Francisco and Portland, Ore., have ranked choice voting and even-year elections.
This November, Portland residents will receive two ballot pages, said Leah Benson, an official with Multnomah County Elections. One will contain the City of Portland ranked choice candidate contests for mayor, auditor, and city councilors. The other page will contain ballot measures and all other non-ranked choice contests.
“A second ballot page was necessary because there was already a full ballot worth of non-RCV contests; there would not have been room for the three RCV contests,” Benson said Friday in an email.
The contents of a suspicious package that caused an evacuation of the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office has been deemed non-hazardous.
The office was evacuated Friday after a package arrived there with the return address of “United States Traitor Elimination Army.”
The white powder inside the package was tested by the Minnesota Department of Health and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and both concluded it was not hazardous, Secretary of State Steve Simon’s office said Saturday.
In a statement, Simon said: “We are thankful for the quick response by our law enforcement partners to ensure the staff members working in our office were safe. We are also grateful to the Minnesota Department of Health, which completed the initial analysis late into the evening on September 27.”
The Health Department is continuing to run tests, Simon’s office said, and the incident is being investigated by the FBI, postal inspectors and the State Patrol.
Last week, offices in 15 other states received similar packages that also contained a mysterious white powder. Those incidents remain under investigation.
The Secretary of State’s Office has not released details about the size or appearance of the suspect package.
Four Twin Cities residents traveling with a church group, including one who was pregnant, are dead after a four-vehicle crash in central Utah.
A Utah resident riding an all-terrain vehicle was also killed in the chain-reaction accident, which occurred Thursday near the city of Price, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.
The incident began when an SUV pulled into the path of a truck pulling two trailers. The truck driver swerved to avoid the SUV but lost control, crossed the median and hit a Nissan Rogue driving in the opposite lane.
The people in the Nissan were two couples from the Twin Cities, and all four were killed on impact, said Sgt. Chris Pugliese with the Utah Highway Patrol.
“It was a very violent crash,” he said.
The victims were Sang Her, 56, and Lee Thao, 38, both of Brooklyn Center, and Bee Moua, 26, and Mai Lor, 25, both of St. Paul. One of the two women killed was pregnant, Pugliese said.
KSL-TV in Salt Lake City reported that Lor was pregnant and that she and Moua were married earlier this year.
The four Minnesotans were traveling with a church group, which was in another car and escaped the accident. Members of the church group told authorities that the four victims were traveling from Moab to Salt Lake City. Pugliese said they were planning to fly back to the Twin Cities that night.
