Former Fort Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald’s case will finally go to trial after over four years of legal wrangling.
JOYCE MARSHALL [email protected]
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Harrison Mantas
A trial date has been set for a former Fort Worth police chief who alleged in a lawsuit that his 2019 firing was retaliation for his attempts to uncover corruption.
A Dallas County civil court was scheduled to hear Joel Fitzgerald’s whistlerblower case starting at 9:30 a.m. Monday, but technical difficulties pushed off the court date for at least two weeks.
Fitzgerald, who served as Fort Worth’s police chief from 2015 to 2019, was fired shortly after getting into an argument with a union leader during a police conference in Washington, D.C. City leaders also accused the former chief of an “increasing lack of good judgment,” saying he couldn’t build relationships with other department heads and had mismanaged the police department budget, according to a letter from city manager David Cooke.
However, the Texas Workforce Commission ruled in July 2019 there was no evidence Fitzgerald had committed any work related misconduct, and in May 2020 a court ordered the city change his discharge designation to honorable.
Fitzgerald has also pointed to the fact that his firing came hours before he was scheduled to meet with federal investigators over concerns the city had violated the Criminal Justice Information Systems Act. He alleged city employees lied about the city being in compliance with regulations needed to access a federal law enforcement database, and that the employees destroyed evidence to cover it up.
The former Fort Worth police chief unsuccessfully sued to stop the city from hiring his replacement. He now works as the chief of police and emergency management for the Regional Transportation District in Denver.
Fort Worth initially allocated $500,000 to fight the Fitzgerald’s lawsuit, but upped the amount to $900,000 in September 2023 to “respond to Fitzgerald’s attorney’s numerous motions, and challenge many discovery requests that have no real relevance to Fitzgerald’s claims,” according to a city memo.
A city spokesperson declined to comment on the case, but said in an email that the city has not exceeded its $900,000 allocation.
Fitzgerald’s lawyer Stephen Kennedy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Star-Telegram.
This story was originally published January 5, 2024, 12:03 PM.