KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council voted Thursday to approve a $1.3 million settlement with a firefighter who filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city.
The vote was 9-2, with council members Kevin O'Neill and Nathan Willett voting no. Mayor Quinton Lucas and Councilwoman Melissa Robinson were not at the meeting.
Rebecca Reynolds, a Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department paramedic and firefighter, sued the city for discriminatory and abusive conduct based on her gender, sexual orientation and age, according to the lawsuit.
Reynolds joined the KCMO fire department at age 40 in July 2003.
The lawsuit claims Reynolds was "screamed at by superiors, who have told her, among other things, that she was "not normal" because of her sexual orientation," the lawsuit states.
Reynolds is a lesbian.
Reynolds saw inappropriate cartoons and memes posted on the refrigerator in the spring of 2023 at the fire station where she worked.
She decided not to report the incident because of "previous hostility from superiors following the reporting of such conduct," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims Reynolds was intentionally tripped by a co-worker on March 10, 2023, at a fire station.
He allegedly told her, "Don't walk in front of me," and tripped her from behind.
Reynolds suffered a knee injury that later required surgery.
She continues to work at the fire department, serving as a paramedic.
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