Residents React To Eagan Firefighter Lawsuit

EAGAN, MN — A firefighter in Eagan is suing the city's fire chief in U.S. District Court and claims he was demoted due to his sexual orientation. Darren Lowell Benson seeks damages against chief of the Eagan Fire Department Michael Scott. On Thursday, Eagan city officials released a statement regarding the lawsuit, stating that its perspective was "all but eliminated in the first media reports regarding the allegations."

"While the City of Eagan is restricted in what it can say about personnel and legal matters, common sense dictates that, there are at least two sides to every story," the city said in the statement. "Unfortunately the City’s perspective was all but eliminated in the first media reports regarding the allegations. Eagan denies any discrimination occurred in the appointment of battalion chiefs." The city said no discrimination occurred.

Read the entire statement from the city.

The response came after a City Pages article on the Eagan firefighter that was published Wednesday:

Benson thrived and was promoted through the ranks, eventually becoming a battalion chief, supervising emergency scenes. If he was first to arrive, he did CPR. He’s not bragging when he says a few people are still walking around Eagan because of him. That’s just his job. Or it was.

The article suggests that Benson was demoted because it was learned that he was gay and married to a guy named Greg.

The lawsuit against Eagan claims that Benson was forced to go through a reapplication process for his job that was "in reality was just a ruse," and outed Benson "against his will," KSTP reported.

On Thursday, the city took to social media to tell its side of the story, saying "We appreciate all of you who have reached out in support of fair treatment and ask for patience as this moves through the legal process."

The comments responding to the post ranged from supportive to critical. Melinda Hugdahl said:

In the future, I hope the City that represents me writes more professional and respectful statements than "common sense dictates that, there are at least two sides to every story." - which appears in the full statement attached to the post

Willson Chad stated, "Anyone can make an allegation, doesn't mean it's true. There are lots of facts missing and we don't know the truth until the the entire set of facts are released."

Tracie Nestor Hughes said, "I am disappointed by this whole situation. This was not handled well, communicated properly or fair to all involved in this decision. I've called Eagan my home for more than 20 years...this is an embarrassment."

"I am an Eagan resident and this is the first time I have heard of this situation," commented Lisa Nofzinger. "I do not know what to think. I feel bad for the person who is suing. If he was discriminated against because he is gay, that is wrong. I also am concerned that city services to us may suffer if there is a payout. I do understand the city cannot say very much."

Jeremy Bierlein stated:

(Eagan resident) What poor crisis communication with the defensive, agressive tone of the tweets, Facebook post, and press release. While understandably not able to comment on individual employee performance, the press release fails to address the contention that the reasons behind re-application process were not made clear by fire department leadership - either by accident or intent. If the firefighters were indeed asked to reapply for their jobs under unclear pretense, that would be a failure of HR oversight by the city and fire department leadership. There is now a legal bill and potential settlement riding on the fact it was 1) a fair selection process and 2) clear evidence the three most qualified individuals of the six candidates were retained as batallion chiefs.

Brian Munro said:

The City's response is lame, for lack of a better word. You have an opportunity to respond to this serious allegation by being open, transparent and proactive; but rather than do anything like that, you've gone on the defensive claiming that no discrimination occurred. On what basis can you possibly make that claim? What, if any, internal investigation has the City done to warrant making such a public statement? Seems to me there most certainly is more to this story...

Patty Kopp stated, "Sorry Eagan, you missed the boat on this one. The efdp is known for pushing good people out. Shame on you."

Susan Gallagher said:

I'll tell you what. This gentleman's story sounds valid. If Eagan is indeed supporting a Chief who engages in discrimination, which appears to be the case, the City needs to get after this now, fire the Chief and commit themselves to following no discriminatory practices.

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