Jury awards city of Fort Worth whistleblower over $1 million in wrongful termination trial

A Dallas jury awarded over $1 million in lost wages and benefits late Thursday to Ronald Burke, a former assistant information services director for the city of Fort Worth.

Burke filed a wrongful termination suit against the city, alleging that he was retaliated against after he and another colleague, William Birchett, reported concerns about corruption to former police chief Joel Fitzgerald, who is also suing the city. They said the city was not complying with federal cyber security procedures involving an FBI database

Fitzgerald warned city officials that noncompliance could take away the police department’s ability to share information about criminals.

Attorney Stephen Kennedy, who is representing Fitzgerald, said he is pleased with the jury’s decision in Burke’s case, but added that the decision has no legal impact on the trial for Fitzgerald.

“Every case is different, and we’ve got to prove every case on its merrits,” Kennedy said.

A city of Fort Worth spokesperson said in an email: “We’re disappointed in today’s verdict but we respect the decision of the jury and thank them for their service.”

Burke also sued to get his job back, and Kennedy said the court will make a determination in future hearings.

Fitzgerald, whose trial is scheduled for October, was fired in May 2019 shortly after he reported the concerns about the database to the city.

City offficials accused Fitzgerald of having an “increasingly lack of good judgment,” citing his mismanagement of the police department’s budget and relationships with other department heads. Fitzgerald also had a heated argument with a police union official at a conference in Washington, D.C., before he was fired.

But in July of 2019, the Texas Workforce Commission found that there was no evidence that Fitzgerald committed workplace misconduct.

A court later ordered the city to change Fitzgerald’s discharge to honorable.

Earlier this month, the City Council voted 10-1 to spend an additional $1.1 million to fight Fitzgerald’s federal lawsuit which was filed in Dallas.