A federal judge on Friday allowed two female Topeka police administrators to proceed with pursuing a gender discrimination lawsuit against the city but threw out all but one of the claims involved.
U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes ruled on a motion for summary judgment Topeka’s city government and retired Topeka Police Chief Bryan Wheeles filed in January seeking the dismissal without trial of a gender discrimination suit filed in January 2023 by Topeka police Major Jana Kizzar and Captains Colleen Stuart and Jennifer Cross.
That motion on Friday was granted in part and denied in part, Broomes’ 36-page ruling said.
Topeka’s city government had no comment on the ruling Friday, as the case is still set to go to trial, said Dan Garrett, director of communications and media relations for the city.
What part of Friday’s ruling went in the female administrators’ favor?
Broomes denied the city’s request that he grant summary judgment in its favor on Kizzar’s and Stuart’s claim that the city discriminated against them in 2021 by failing to promote them to major and instead promoting Michael Cross to that position.
The ruling enables Kizzar and Stuart to proceed with that claim.
“There is evidence that one panel member marked Michael Cross as unpromotable,” Broomes wrote of the promotion process involved. “There is also evidence that Michael Cross had a reputation as being untrustworthy which was brought to Wheeles’ attention prior to his selection.”
Further, there was evidence that Michael Cross didn’t complete tasks assigned to him during his career, Broomes wrote.
“There was also evidence that during the two years prior to the promotion he was consistently late to work, left early, and took long lunches,” he wrote. “This evidence casts sufficient doubt on the City’s explanation for its decision.”
Which parts of the ruling went in favor of Wheeles and the city?
Broomes ruled in favor of the city and Wheeles in all other respects.
Broomes concluded Kizzar, Stuart and Jennifer Cross had not put forth sufficient evidence that show that the city has a policy of discriminating against women in promotions.
He wrote that Wheeles and the city put forth legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for promoting Jamey Haltom over Kizzar and Stuart to be deputy chief and Jerry Monasmith over Jennifer Cross to a captain’s position.
Broomes also concluded Wheeles is entitled to qualified immunity on all claims against him. Qualified immunity shields government officials performing discretionary functions from liability for civil damages if their conduct doesn’t violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.
Broomes approved the city’s request that the trial in the case take place in Topeka.
The plaintiffs had asked that it be held in Kansas City, Kansas.
The city is getting help defending the case from the Topeka law office of Henson, Hutton, Mudrick, Gragson & Vogelsberg, LLC.
What previously happened with this case?
Attorneys representing Stuart, Kizzar and Jennifer Cross — who remain with the Topeka department — filed the three-count federal civil suit in January 2023 in U.S. District Court.
The suit asks for a total of more than $7 million in damages for the three of them, plus whatever amount a jury may decide to award for punitive damages they are seeking. They also requested payment for attorney’s fees.
Broomes last month scheduled the jury trial in the case to begin at 9 a.m. Sept. 16.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka police discrimination suit proceeds but most claims thrown out
