Instead, the city attorney continues to fight her in federal court, rejecting Ellis’ claims of gender discrimination and retaliation, and saying her firing was appropriate. The case is moving slowly, extending a painful personnel feud that played a role in mayoral politics.
At the core of the dispute, according to Ellis, was her criticism of some on the department’s executive team — including former Chief Brian Dale — for engaging in personal, for-profit activities on the city’s time, along with her complaints about the design of Fire Station No. 2 that lacked smoke detectors and then caught fire, and the installation of bicycle lanes on 300 South that yielded a road narrower than required by the state and city fire code.