A judge has barred Fort Worth former Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald from obtaining an internal investigation report involving a whistleblower complaint, which he had sought as part of his long-running lawsuit since he was fired in 2019.
The Dallas County judge heard subpoenaed testimony Friday from City Manager David Cooke and a former city attorney. She ruled that the internal report was protected by attorney-client privilege.
The report details the findings from a city investigation after Kirk Slaughter, the former head of public events, complained that a bid process for a parking management contract was unfair. The contract for Will Rogers Memorial Center was awarded to Trail Drive Management Corp., the nonprofit that ran the city-owned Dickies Arena. Slaughter complained that a former assistant city manager influenced the bid process.
Fitzgerald, who filed his lawsuit in May 2019 shortly after his firing, alleges he was let go after trying to uncover corruption in the city’s IT department. City officials say Fitzgerald was dismissed due to poor leadership and a confrontation at a 2019 conference in Washington after he was removed from the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas.
The Texas Workforce Commission found in July 2019 there was no evidence Fitzgerald had committed misconduct. The city was asked by courts in May 2020 to change Fitzgerald’s discharge designation to honorable.
Fitzgerald now works as the police chief in Waterloo, Iowa. His lawsuit against...
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