North Kitsap Fire settles harassment lawsuit

Oct. 24--KINGSTON -- North Kitsap Fire and Rescue recently settled a 2010 harassment and gender discrimination lawsuit for $675,000.

Tamara Dotson, a former firefighter and paramedic with North Kitsap Fire and Rescue, filed a complaint in Kitsap County Superior Court that said supervisors harassed and discriminated against her as a woman. The complaint also alleged that the district did not provide property facilities or training opportunities for women.

Dotson was the only female firefighter and paramedic with the district at the time, according to court documents.

Dotson was employed full-time by North Kitsap Fire from November 2001 to July 2009, and previously had been a volunteer for three years.

Dotson filed a $2 million damage claim with North Kitsap Fire before filing a lawsuit in Kitsap County Superior Court in 2010.

The district said in a statement Friday that an outside investigator, hired by NKFR, could not confirm her claims.

Dotson's complaint said her male supervisors -- including Sean Moran, Toby Schultz and Ken LeMay, all NKFR captains at the time -- made "gender-biased remarks" throughout her career at North Kitsap Fire and Rescue.

Such remarks also lead to "verbal altercations" between men after comments were made about another firefighter's daughter.

During Dotson's initial meeting with Moran in 2001, she said he told her he "wasn't happy" about having "a woman assigned to [his] shift."

Supervisors also used sexual and racist slurs when referring to women, the complaint said.

In 2007, LeMay became upset with Dotson's request for funding for live fire training with a women's only fire group, saying these types of groups are why women in the fire service feel isolated, according to complaint.

The following year, Dotson said she saw LeMay expose himself in the fire station.

North Kitsap Fire and Rescue said it notified the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office about the incident and it was investigated. None of the other employees present during the incident "reported seeing any conduct that could be interpreted as an 'indecent exposure,'" the district said.

Dotson's complaint also said LeMay joked about how women should not be allowed to vote or work, as well as comments about female employees engaging in sexual acts with the district's dog, Blaze.

Dotson's complaint included issues with the facility and district's overall policies for women, saying there was a lack of clean and proper restrooms and showers for females.

In 2005, when she developed a policy proposal for maternity and paternity leave she said she was told it was not financially possible. The complaint said one superior told her that if she "ever wanted to have children and be granted light duty, she would need to submit a written proposal directly to him detailing how she would still be a benefit to the department."

The complaint also said Chief Dan Smith told her "by choosing to be a firefighter he believed she made the choice not to have kids."

Dotson's complaint goes on to say she was retaliated against for knee surgery in 2003, and comments were made about her weight gain.

And instead of disciplining supervisors, the district promoted some of them, the complaint said.

North Kitsap Fire's liability insurance, Arch Insurance Company, will pay for the $675,000 settlement.

The district estimated a trial likely would have cost more than the agreed-upon settlement, and settled the case "in an effort to avoid the distraction and expense of going to trial."

Based on its investigations, the district said it "believed that it would be vindicated if the case went to trial."

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