Theresa Cusick
Watch Chief Rubin’s deposition and read the complaint in connection to Theresa Cusick’s lawsuit against the city
Theresa Cusick is the former general counsel for the DC Fire & EMS Department who yesterday went public with the details of her lawsuit against the city. Cusick, who was the department’s lawyer for nine years, was let go within three months of the arrival of Chief Dennis Rubin in April, 2007. Cusick believes her dismissal was retaliation for telling Rubin one of his assistant chiefs interfered with a cheating investigation.
In a video deposition by Rubin, provided by Cusick’s attorney at the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the chief claims he got rid of Cusick after she went on an expletive filled tirade about his command staff. Cusick denies such an incident occurred.
Chief Dennis Rubin deposition from the Government Accountability Project.
A STATter911.com reader reminds us that Theresa Cusick was once on the other side of a complaint by a former fire department employee and according to news reports didn’t like it one bit. It was a very controversial episode in the history of the fire department.
It began with the death of Tyra Hunter in 1995, a transgender woman who died in a traffic accident. A lawsuit over Hunter’s care included an agreement that the department will institute diversity training. Kenda Kirby was brought in to handle those duties. Kirby herself ended up in a legal dispute with the department claiming she was fired because she is a lesbian.
In a March 5, 2004 article in the Washington Blade, reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. recounted a confrontation between Kirby, her lawyer and Theresa Cusick. Portions of that article are below. The entire article can be found here.
Contacted today, GAP spokesman Dylan Blaylock, does not believe the 2004 incident is relevant to Cusick’s suit and claims against Chief Rubin and members of his command staff. Blaylock makes his case in an email to STATter911.com that you can read here.
A lawyer representing the D.C. fire department yelled at Kenda Kirby, who was hired by the department to increase diversity awareness, during a Feb. 9 fact-finding meeting by the city’s Office of Human Rights into Kirby’s complaint that she was subjected to anti-gay harassment on the job, according to Mindy Daniels, Kirby’s attorney.
Daniels said Theresa Cusick, the D.C. Fire & Emergency Medical Services Department’s general counsel, leapt to her feet, leaned across a conference table toward Kirby, and screamed when she learned that Kirby had named her as a defendant in a discrimination complaint that Kirby filed against the department last September.
Kirby’s complaint charges the department with violating the D.C. Human Rights Act by failing to adequately respond when firefighters posted a series of derogatory messages about Kirby on an Internet site for firefights. The complaint charges department officials with retaliating against Kirby by curtailing her job duties when she reported the discrimination to her supervisors.
“Look at you! Look at you!” Cusick screamed at Kirby, according to Daniels’s account. “How dare you accuse me of anything!” Daniels quoted Cusick as saying.
Kenda Kirby from the Washington Blade.
Daniels said a stunned Kirby sat in silence as Daniels and OHR compliance officer Julio Matta tried to calm Cusick. Cusick continued to shout at Kirby for nearly five minutes, Daniels said, before agreeing to Daniels and Matta’s suggestion to end the meeting and to reschedule it for at another time.
“She was outright abusive and uncivil,” Daniels said. “It was the most unprofessional thing I’ve experienced in over 20 years of practice.”
Cusick, when contacted Wednesday by phone, declined comment.
“I cannot discuss this at all,” she said. “I cannot talk to the press.”
Katherine Friedman, a spokesperson for the department, said the department considers proceedings such as the Feb. 9 OHR meeting to be confidential and never comments on them.
The department hired Kirby, a former volunteer firefighter in Oklahoma, to help run the department’s diversity training program, which covers gay and transgender issues. The department decided not to renew her one-year appointment, which ended last month.
Kirby charges in her complaint that Cusick failed to adequately investigate a series of anonymous, online postings by firefighters on an unofficial firefighters’ Web site that poked fun of Kirby’s appearance. The postings also questioned Kirby’s competency as a consultant for the department’s diversity training program. Someone placed a printed copy of the postings in Kirby’s office mailbox, her complaint says.
One of the postings denounced Kirby for wearing a uniform normally worn by male battalion fire chiefs, calling her “some no-nothing running around dressed like a fireman.” Kirby has said department officials selected the uniform and required her to wear it.
Another posting said, “I thought the dress uniform for women was a skirt!!!”
A third posting criticized Fire Chief Adrian Thompson for hiring as diversity trainers new battalion fire chiefs who “cannot figure out if they are male or female.”
In addition, the complaint says Kirby was informed by a deputy fire chief that department officials had deliberated in private over whether she should be required to use the male or female bathrooms at the time she was hired. The officials eventually decided, “I was not allowed to use the men’s room,” Kirby said in an affidavit accompanying her complaint.
Kirby charges in her complaint that the department’s failure to take adequate steps to identify and reprimand the department employees who wrote the online messages undermined her ability to effectively carry out her job, defamed her character, and caused her to suffer emotional harm.
The complaint says at least one of the postings shows it was sent out on a Fire & EMS Department computer server, indicating that the sender wrote it while at work.
Daniels said Kirby has since amended her complaint against the department to charge Cusick with a count of retaliation for Cusick’s behavior at the Feb. 9 OHR meeting.
“The basis of the complaint is the department acted improperly toward Kenda because of her personal appearance,” Daniels said. “Now you have Cusick shouting ‘Look at you, look at you’ at Kenda. That gets to personal appearance,” Daniels said.
Also on STATter911 …
- The fire chief’s deposition. Dennis Rubin responds to questions from the lawyer for the DC Fire & EMS Department’s former legal counsel. – December 3, 2009
- Quick Takes – December 4, 2009
- Weekend Roundup. – December 7, 2009
- Update: Watch entire hearing on DC Fire & EMS Department overtime spending. More fireworks between Rubin & Mendelson. – May 19, 2010
How is this relevant to Theresa Cusick being fired in 2007? Wasn’t rubin not even around then? Why is FEMS trying to smear her?
Cusick was not without her faults, but I never heard her curse anyone.
I think that if the rule is that every time a person is accused of some sort of discrimination, they get fired, then just about every agency head should get fired. And the agency is trying to smear her because that is what they do.
I was never “sued” by Ms. Kirby, I was mentioned in her discrimination complaint. In nine years that was the only time I was mentioned in anybody’s discrimination complaint, and it saddened me that I was named. However, you will note that even though I was described as being really really angry, I did not curse.
I just did some quick research on this guy Rubin and man is he really bad dude. He’s come to DC with and OPEN CHECK BOOK; from Fenty. This guy has spent Millions of our dollars on fighting firefighters off with stupid lawsuits and then passes them off to us as if they were important issues. HELL NO, this is madness and it has to stop. Looking at what he sold us its bunch of lies EASTERN MARKET FIRE, GEORGETOWN LIBRARY FIRE, PROSTITUTES IN FIREHOUSES, FAULTY FIRE HYDRANTS, MULTIPLE EEO CASES, PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR INJURIES TO FIREFIGHTERS, & MULTIPLE LARGE APARTMENT FIRES IN NW, AND WHAT REALLY HAPPEN TO DAVID ROSENBAUM (things aren’t starting to add up). The list goes on OMG where have I been; by heart truly goes out to the men and women who protect our lives under this man rule.
Theresa,
Thank you for correcting the record. I actually did notice that before the article was posted (as I was reading some other material related to Kenda Kirby) and for some reason I failed to correct my copy. It has been done now.
If anyone is cursing, it is me right now, for not getting it right the first time.
Thanks for writing.
Statter
Everyone is missing the point. The former IG stated that Chief Lee was involved in a “Cheating Scandal” and it was swept under the rug by chief Rubin…what gives ???
What a weak and obviuos smear campaign by the fire department. This 2005 incident doesn’t seem to bear any relevance to cusick’s case now. Fenty needs to do something about Rubin.
Rubin needs to pack up and leave. He has done nothing in his tenure that I would consider positive. EMS is a failure even after all the additional units and more paramedics.Firefighting has gone downhill for the most part.A few good people holding it together. Higher ups in his administration either retire, find another position or are fired.
Something is wrong when you have turnover in the upper ranks.Point the finger at him and his management style (my way or leave).
Time for a change.
Yes, he could be Burtonsville’s next fire chief.
I just want to know why is a lawyer posting a deposition for the public to see before the court hearing?
I have spent a lot of time reading and keeping my mouth shut. I worked with DC Fire for several years just right when Chief Rubin was hired. And, if Chief Rubin has never heard swear words before, then he hasn’t been with the FD for long. I have been around DC Fire leadership often and have seen them openly rip another person apart just because they didn’t agree with the leaderships opinion. I was once on the other end of that and it was not enjoyable. It is time for DC government to hold these men accountable for their behaviour. I’m tired of them constantly pointing the finger at someone else instead of looking in the mirror and evaluating their own errors.
Theresa – I applaud you for your guts to stand up to these men! You deserve everything that is asked for in the lawsuit!
Rubin turned Atlanta around within a year,after 8 years of mismanagement & neglet.
He’s a very good manager…….give him some time.
DC has FAR MORE political BS then even Atlanta has,& I did not think that was possible.
Many people just do not like change,they will not like Rubin.
On another note…..he’s very safety minded,& ems oriented.He brought Dr.Augustine with him to fix ems.He will fix your ems system even if some don’t care or want it fixed.
He jumped Atlanta from a 1980′s style bls ems delivery system into a 2005 paramedic engine Co.system in 1 year.It will be harder to change the culture of fire vs ems but he’s the guy who can do it,if all the other BS doesn’t keep getting in the way
So tell me FFJoe, how often did you ride the ambulance down there in ATL while Rubin was at your helm? Or were you one of those special Paramedics that got to ride an Engine everyday while you bumped out the rest of the members of your company to ride the ambulance. Oh wait that’s right ATL is a thrid service hospital based transport system so you don’t ride a box. There is nothing wrong with incorporating EMS into the fire service, however to have Medics on multi-role companies such as Engines and Trucks is absurd. They were hired to provide a higher level of EMS care through the use of the ALS skills, they should be on an Amulance. Oh and by the way I am one of these FF/Paramedics here in DC who is bumping guys from my company out everyday and I believe that we should at the very least be taking our turn riding a box if not riding it more than the FF/EMT’s are. After all I am getting extra pay to provide EMS care right?. Too many guys are using that card to get on the job and they don’t want to provide EMS care anymore than the FF/EMT’s they bump out everyday. Rubin and his minions are not running the show up here the way that would serve the citizens and visitors of the city the best. He’s been here for three years how much time does he need to begin to make some progress? Traveling the country and telling everyone that pays to come listen to you speak what a great job your doing doesn’t mean that your doing a great job!
ffjoe..Dennis Rubin is very safety oriented!!
Apparently you didn’t see the video of his sprinkler demo, that sent 1 fireman to the hospital.
Chief DENNIS RUB IN is a joke. He has dividied this great department so much that the members don’t know who they can trust. If anyone goes against the grain it seems that they are terminated or trumped up charges are brought against the. Where is the Union and why doesn’t the union help the members after they have been terminated like the teachers union did????
I think it’s funny how every month I read “Rube’s Rules of Leadership” in Firehouse Magazine. How can a man write articles on how to be a good leader when he is the most hated man in his 2000+ employee fire department? It has made me realize how much of a joke that magazine is and how disconnected it is from the front lines of today’s fire service. I just hope the younger generation of firemen have enough sense to question the articles Rubin and all of the other ignorant editors of Firehouse Magazine. He’s a joke and the only person that thinks he has created a “world class” dual role fire department is him. Unfortunately he has somehow managed to convince the other ignorant editors at Fireouse of the same and now they’ve begun to write articles about him too. The biggest mistake Fenty has made in his tenure is bring this moron on board. As someone else stated, had Fenty stayed his original corse and made EMS a true 3rd service none of this crap would ever have happened. We would have the BEST fire department in the country and actually have the time to train to become it. What a waste of taxpayers money.
So isn’t it just amazing how a whole bunch of people start posting stuff when it’s suggested Fire Chief Rubin is telling the truth, like I’m sure he is?
I love the quote from the Blade article referring to Cusick: “She was outright abusive and uncivil,” Daniels said. “It was the most unprofessional thing I’ve experienced in over 20 years of practice.” Oh, and let’s not forget: “Daniels said Kirby has since amended her complaint against the department to charge Cusick with a count of retaliation for Cusick’s behavior at the Feb. 9 OHR meeting.” All this while Cusick was supposed to be representing the TAXPAYERS of DC against Kirby’s lawsuit.
What’s Cusick say in response to this? “However, you will note that even though I was described as being really really angry, I did not curse.” Well, obviously that’s good justification for her behavior, huh? And what’s the GAP say about it? “It simply is, and never has been, in any way, relevant to the DCFD’s reason for the removal of Theresa from the General Counsel role.” Oh, well that explains it too. Let’s see, “not relevant.” Chief Rubin probably didn’t know about Cusick’s run in with Kirby because it happened before he became chief in DC. Coincidentally, Rubin happened to use almost the exact words to describe Cusick’s behavior in the video that Kendra Kirby’s lawyer used two years earlier.
I wonder how much the TAXPAYERS of DC paid out for that little bit (sorry, I mean “nearly five minutes” of bits) of “abusive and uncivil” behavior? Anyone know how much the case settled for? And this is the same lawyer who is now suing the District while she still works here? I wonder if the GAP would have represented Kendra Kirby against Cusick and the District back in 2005? Doesn’t it seem like Cusick’s trying to make the same case against Rubin that Kirby was making against her as reported by the Blade back in 2005?
I’m thinking Cusick and all her friends are only looking for one thing from all of us. More money, plain and simple. The fact is the GAP and Cusick don’t have a case against Fire Chief Rubin or the District and they know it. Otherwise, they’d do their talking in court. That’s why they did this video. They want the TAXPAYERS to shut them up by paying them off.
Well, here’s a DC TAXPAYER that says to heck with that. Chief Rubin is doing a good job of weeding out bad apples in the Fire Department like the ones posting here who have always been a drain on the District. Are you listening Mayor Fenty?
DC Taxpayer, You seem only concerned with the plight of one person, Daniels. The Daniels case while peripherally relevant to the dealings of Cusick before Rubin came into office is still not relevant to the case that is before the city today. And to think that Fenty, Rubin, or any member of the current City Administration has anything but their own vested interests at heart is sorely mistaken. I will stop short of calling Mayor Fenty a criminal, however unless you feel the effects of his decisions first hand as an employee of the city you are really removed from viewing this man through anything but your rose colored glasses. He has directed his department heads to violate policy, and rule arbitrarily on disciplinary cases without following City or Departmental policy. He has personally obstructed the re-establishment of the PERB Board which deals with these very issues. Why do you think that so many people are getting their jobs back after violating city or department regulations. It is not because they were innocent, it is because this man and his appointed officials have decided that the established rules that govern civil service employees are too cumbersome for them to deal with. So they have decided to implement their own brand of justice. That brand is subsequently overruled when it goes before a court. I can understand that you may think that these men are doing a fabulous job, however I have been a DC resident over twenty years and an employee of the fire department for half of that time. Rubin is not doing a good job, believe me. Fenty is doing an even worse job than Rubin, and that is very difficult to do. While I agree that there are bad apples in the Fire Department (as in any other DC Agency) there are established rules to deal with these individuals, and when those rules are abandoned no one benefits from that sort of leadership.
DC Firefighter: AMEN BROTHER!! Well said my friend.
DC Taxpayer: How can you state what kind of apple I am? Do you know me, my qualifications, or level of dedication to this city? Are you a fire dept. employee? If not how can you speak from a more educated view point if you don’t even work under the man’s direction? Remember the Fire Chief is no less of a politician than Fenty. Just because he likes to stand in front of a camera and make our residents feel all warm and fuzzy inside doesn’t mean you should believe it. He tries to be a master public speaker and as long as he sounds good people buy into it. If you take anything from this situation just know that he has created extremely deep rooted issues within this organization that would take years to fix. And that’s only if the city actually hires a person that’s qualified to do it. The only people that are benefiting by his presence is himself and all of the other cool aid drinkers that have been given high ranking promotions by him.
Hey DC TAXPAYER:
Read the papers. Remember how I said the only people benefiting from Rubin’s presence is himself and all of his cronies??? He lied to the media and gave a high ranking officer who resigned a free pass to take $600,000 of the cities pension by keeping him on the books. Starting to see the big picture yet???