A wrongful termination lawsuit against the city of Cincinnati by a former Fire Department Chief is set for trial next month.
Michael Washington鈥檚 lawsuit against the city also names City Manager Sheryl Long, who fired Washington in 2023. Long said he failed to address a hostile work environment toward women and cited a few other reasons for the termination.
Washington sued shortly after. A federal judge decided Tuesday the case can move to trial, mostly denying the city's request for summary judgement.
A city spokesperson told WVXU they do not comment on active legal cases.
In a statement, Washington said he looks forward to his day in court.
"This confirms what I have said all along: There was never cause to fire me," Washington said. "My record of service speaks for itself and I will continue to fight until justice is done."
The judge's decision does not, in fact, come to a conclusion on whether or not Long had proper cause to fire Washington; that's one of several issues a jury will consider.
Judge Stephanie K. Bowman of the Ohio Southern District says Long and the city did violate Washington鈥檚 right to due process by not offering him a hearing before his termination.
"No one disputes that the Charter language gave City Manager Long the authority to fire the Plaintiff, albeit 'only for cause' given his length of service," the order says. "But even the Charter language confirms that a pre-termination hearing before the City Manager was required."
A jury will consider several other issues, including whether Long had proper cause to fire Washington, whether Long made defamatory statements about Washington, and what damages Washington might be awarded.
The suit asks for damages for back pay, front pay, health insurance benefits, and other employee benefits lost as a result of his termination; payment of contributions that would have been made to the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund from the date of his termination to the date of his mandatory retirement; compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial; pre-judgement interest; and attorneys' fees.
The complaint originally named Mayor Aftab Pureval as well, but he was removed from the complaint a few months after filing.
The trial is set to begin Sept. 29.
See the judge's full order below:
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