Minnesota officials settle FD whistleblower lawsuit

By Tim Harlow
Tribune of Stars

LEXINGTON, Minn. — Lexington has reached a settlement in a lawsuit filed by two former employees who claimed the small suburban Anoka County company violated the state’s whistleblower law when they were fired after reporting alleged misconduct at the city’s fire department.

Firefighter Mindy Fiester was awarded $65,000, and firefighter and Capt. Todd Messer was awarded $45,000, under the terms of a settlement approved June 20 by the Lexington City Council. The settlement came after a mediation session in April.

The payments come from the city’s insurer, the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust, ending a case that dragged on for nearly three years and led to conflict among city leaders. The trust decided to settle for a variety of reasons, including the potential for costly litigation.

“The attorneys’ fees and possibly other damages could have significantly exceeded the settlement amount,” said city attorney Curt Glaser. “The league was wise to allocate that money for this purpose and to close this case.”

As part of the settlement, the city admitted no liability for the claims and said it intended to settle the case.

Easier said than done. Some City Council members at a meeting last week said the lawsuit could have been avoided, accusing former fire chief and current Mayor Gary Grote of lying and denying that he knew about but failed to act on sexual harassment allegations made by Fiester in December 2020.

“I had no knowledge of the incident,” Grote said in response to council member Mike Murphy’s accusation at the meeting. Grote said he would “put my hand on the Bible and swear on it.”

The lawsuit says Fiester went to Grote with an allegation that another firefighter had sexually abused an underage child. 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 matter and no action was taken, the lawsuit says.

A month later, Fiester met with Glaser and City Administrator Bill Petracek and learned she was being investigated for failing to comply with mandatory reporting rules. Fiester was given the option to resign or be fired. She left the department in November 2021.

Messer met with Grote in July 2021 and raised Fiester’s issue, telling Grote that the other firefighter’s conduct was “inappropriate,” “illegal” and “falls within 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 summoned to a meeting with Grote and told that the city attorney was investigating him. In November 2021, Messer was informed that he was being fired for failing to comply with mandatory reporters’ policy, discussing the accused firefighter’s conduct during a meeting with an officer, seeking advice from a fire chief in another jurisdiction and having red and blue lights on his vehicle, the lawsuit said.

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According to the lawsuit, Messer was under the impression that the city had fired employees connected to the report of the firefighter’s alleged actions and that they had resigned in December 2021.

Minnesota’s whistleblower law states that no employer shall fire any employee who, in good faith, reports a violation, suspected violation, or intended violation of state or federal law. Fiester and Messer sued because they claimed they suffered emotional distress, humiliation, pain and suffering, lost wages, benefits, and “other damages,” the lawsuit said.

The accused firefighter no longer works for the city, Petracek said.

The investigation revealed that Fiester recorded a meeting while she was on a performance review and a discussion about the lack of progress in investigating the firefighter’s conduct. The recording apparently revealed that Grote knew about the allegations but took no action.

That was a sore point at the June 20 meeting before the council approved the settlement. Murphy said Grote lied under oath.

“We have evidence, even documents, that prove you lied under oath,” Murphy said.

“I’ve been transparent,” Grote, whose mayoral term ends at the end of the year, said. He said he began investigating as soon as he had all the information. “I know you want to run for mayor, Mike, and you’re going to do everything in your power to make me look bad,” Grote said.

Asked if he would release the recording and transcript to the public, Grote said: “Why would you want to do that? I don’t want this interview to be on tape or released to the public. They don’t need to hear about it.”