SALT LAKE CITY — A female fire captain who served as acting chief of the Saratoga Springs Fire Department says in a federal lawsuit that the city allowed the new fire chief to discriminate against her.
Dawnya Halliday claims that Chief Jess Campbell implemented a new physical agility test in 2012 that was adjusted for certain people but to disfavor female firefighters.
Furthermore, the test sought to evaluate performance aspects that were irrelevant to Halliday's situation, such as having to climb 180 steps even though no building in the city has that many steps, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court last week.
Female firefighters also were tested wearing male vests instead of the 45-pound vests made for women, the suit says.
Halliday says she passed all the standardized tests she was required to take but was subject to disciplinary action afterward.
Halliday, who joined the department in 2000 and served as acting chief in 2007, says she told a city leaders about the situation but nothing changed and a grievance she file was ignored. She said she was fired after the department refused her request to delay an agility test so she could deal with a thyroid condition.
Saratoga Springs is aware of the lawsuit but doesn't comment on pending litigation, said city spokesman Owen Jackson.
In the lawsuit, Halliday also claims that Campbell made sexist comments to her and other firefighters
Halliday says Campbell said she "should thank (him) for allowing (her) to go home and be a wife and mother," even though she was a single mother at the time.
Campbell also referred to female firefighters in a demeaning way such as saying, "We are not hiring any more of them" after learning that an applicant was a woman and asking male firefighters, "What are we, women?" and telling them that they "had better go put on your skirts," according to the lawsuit.
Halliday also claims she was not allowed to take part in a color guard presentation during a city celebration because the chief wanted only men on the stage.
Halliday seeks an unspecified amount in damages for emotional distress and lost pay, as well as punitive damages.
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