Nashville to pay more than $250K to deputy fire marshal in discrimination suit

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A federal jury awarded the deputy fire marshal Maggie Lawrence more than $250,000 in back pay, as well as pain and suffering, after she was discriminated against by her own department on the basis of sex and gender.

Because Lawrence was also awarded legal fees Friday afternoon, her attorney Rob Bigelow said it cost end up costing the city more than half a million dollars.

After the verdict was announced, Lawrence said she broke out in tears of joy.

Lawrence, who continues to work for the fire marshal’s office after filing the lawsuit, said she will return to work on Monday.

In response to the verdict, fire department spokesman Joseph Pleasant wrote in an email to WSMV4 Investigates, “We respectfully disagree with the jury’s decision, but respect the judicial process. The Nashville Fire Department is committed to promoting the most qualified personnel because it’s not only right, but impacts the safety of our community.”

A WSMV4 Investigation first reported in 2021 that Lawrence was the latest black woman over the age of 50 to file a discrimination complaint against the administration of the Nashville Fire Department, News4 Investigates has learned.

Lawrence, a nearly 40 year employee of the department, filed an EEOC complaint in September 2021 saying she was discriminated against based on her sex, age and potentially race.

Lawrence told WSMV4 Investigates that she routinely faced harassment following her filing of the EEOC complaint.

“Do you worry at all that backlash is coming my way if I do this?” asked News4 Investigates in 2021.

“Yes,” Lawrence said.

“And has it happened?” asked WSMV4 Investigates?

“Yes! I mean, it’s a daily thing,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence said she filed the complaint after a series of hostile meetings with administration, who were angry about complaints about the department reaching the mayor’s office.

Lawrence cited an especially hostile meeting with Tim Henderson, the deputy director of the department.

“He started cussing, started saying the F word throughout the whole thing. I was traumatized,” Lawrence said. “We were cursed out for minutes. He stated that someone had been going to the mayor’s office and telling them what was going on in the department in our section.”

Lawrence said the threats were repeated later in another meeting with fire chief William Swann.

WSMV4 Investigates obtained secretly-recorded audio of that meeting that Lawrence now confirms she herself conducted.

“If you go outside this department, start running that mouth, saying stuff that’s negative for what reason to, whatever, air your dirty laundry, it’s going to come back to me anyway,” Swann said in the recording.

Lawrence said the warnings followed last year’s termination of Fire Marshal Al Thomas.

In a hearing before his termination, Thomas said his deputy director should have the job.

“Deputy Fire Marshal Maggie Lawrence was ideal for the position,” Thomas said in the recording.

When she didn’t get the job, Lawrence wrote in her EEOC complaint that the fire marshal position wasn’t even posted.

Lawrence wrote in her complain that another man, Lawrence Hutchinson, was brought in from another department, having never worked in the fire marshal’s office.

In the meeting with Swann, Lawrence was told exactly what she was to do for Hutchinson.

“Give him support. To make sure that if anything he needs, or whatever he needs, you’re here to support him,” Swann said.

In her EEOC complaint, Lawrence, 63, wrote that Hutchinson, under age 50, was much less qualified than her, citing her masters’ degree.

She wrote that at the time of Lawrence’s appointment, she had never incurred any negative write ups.

Lawrence told WSMV4 Investigates that after 36 years with the department, she had no intention of retiring.

But Swann said in the audio that he couldn’t put someone in the position who was considering retiring.

“It would be not smart of me, to put someone in that position, at that level, and they not going to be here but for a next few years,” Swann said.

“What did you think when you heard that?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.

“It was a slap in the face. I wanted to get up and punch him in the face,” said Lawrence.

“What’s the culture like in the administration of the fire department?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.

“It’s a good old boy culture,” Lawrence said.

WSMV 4 Investigates has confirmed that Lawrence is just the latest black woman, over the age of 50, who has filed a discrimination complaint or lawsuit against the department.

Former Deputy Fire Marshal Quinetta Bartley, former executive administrator Drusilla Martin and Paramedic Shelle Braden all filed EEOC complaints or federal lawsuits citing discrimination since 2014.

Those three complaints or lawsuits were filed before Swann became chief in 2018.

While none of the three women would talk on camera, Bartley and Braden did confirm that after they filed their complaints, their careers stalled during the Swann administration.

“Maggie’s not alone, and sadly, that’s not shocking,” Bigelow told WSMV4 Investigates in 2021.

None of three complaints or lawsuits made their way through the federal system.

Court records show both Braden and Martin hired the same attorney, who was arrested for unrelated matters.

Federal court records show that Martin cited the fact that she could not find another attorney to take her case as a reason for dismissing the lawsuit.

Bartley did confirm that her EEOC complaint did not progress to a federal lawsuit but did not remember the specifics of why.

At the time of our 2021 investigation, Pleasant wrote that Metro Legal advised them against doing an interview, but did release a statement reading in part, “The Nashville Fire Department emphatically denies that Ms. Lawrence was discriminated based on her age, gender, or race. The department also denies completely any allegations of retaliation against Ms. Lawrence. Due to the ongoing EEOC investigation, the Nashville Fire Department will have no further comment on Ms. Lawrence’s unfounded allegations.”

Lawrence said in our 2021 interview that at one point she did consider resigning, but she said her husband convinced her otherwise.

“He said you have to stay there because you have to fight for those who can’t fight,” Lawrence said.

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