Ex-Lincoln firefighter's discrimination case against the city is heading to trial

Amanda Benson filed the federal case five years ago alleging that the city had turned a blind eye to complaints about a hostile work environment, exonerated employees who contributed to it and failed to take steps to fix it.

The city had argued the case should be dismissed. 

But in a ruling July 31, U.S. District Judge Brian Buescher allowed it to go forward, finding that Benson had raised enough questions of fact for her claims to go before a jury.

A 10-day jury trial now is set to start in U.S. District Court in Omaha on Sept. 12.

In his order, Buescher said a principal theme running through the city’s briefs was its contention that Benson hadn't pointed to evidence of any harassment that was severe or pervasive enough to amount to a hostile environment harassment or to any conduct other than her firing to support her discrimination or retaliation claims.

He said Benson is alleging that she was subjected to sexual discrimination and harassment "for almost the entirety of her employment with LFR." Many — but not all — of her allegations were based on conduct by one person: Fire Capt. Shawn Mahler.

"Although the court might well conclude otherwise, a reasonable jury could conclude that the myriad incidents of ridicule and insult that Benson claims she suffered — and that the record reasonably supports — over the duration of her employment with LFR demonstrate that the harassment was at least sufficiently 'pervasive' to alter the conditions of her employment and did not involve merely a few isolated incidents," the judge wrote.

Buescher said another close question presented is whether any of the alleged harassment or discrimination was based on Benson's sex.

He concluded: "Particularly in the context of a generally male-dominated profession such as firefighting, Benson has pointed to sufficient evidence to anti-woman comments and differential treatment of men and women — not only as to benefits but as to official responses to their misconduct — that a reasonable jury could find that the conduct toward Benson was 'because of (Benson's) sex.'"

Benson had worked as a firefighter/EMT since 2013, until she was fired effective Nov. 2, 2021, after she accused Mahler of abandoning her team in a burning building.

In a pretrial brief, one of the attorneys representing the city, Heidi Guttau of Baird Holm LLP, said Benson worked for LFR for seven years as a firefighter, "during which time she either sued, lodged internal complaints against, or publicly accused at least 21 city-related individuals of wrongdoing."

She said Benson finally went too far when she falsely accused Mahler, a decorated 26-year LFR firefighter, of abandoning her and her crew to die in a burning warehouse.

Guttau said the city lawfully discharged Benson because of that "unconscionable lie."

Benson denies she lied. And after arbitration, she was reinstated a year later. But the city terminated her again earlier this year. 

Her 2018 lawsuit followed two others by then-Capts. Brian Giles and Troy Hurd, alleging they faced retaliation for reporting harassment of female firefighters.

In 2019, a federal jury awarded Hurd $1.1 million. The judgment later was reduced by a judge, and the city agreed to pay Hurd $600,000 to avoid a second trial.

In 2020, the city agreed to pay Giles $280,000 to settle his lawsuit.