A former Orange County Hearth Authority spokeswoman who accused the company of rampant male chauvinism and systematic gender-based harassment has settled her lawsuit for $580,000.
Colleen Windsor, a former TV information anchor in San Diego, alleged she was systematically harassed, undermined and pranked by employees on the Irvine-based hearth company as a result of she was a girl in a high-ranking govt place.
Windsor, who served because the company’s communications director from January 2019 to August 2021, sued the OCFA in October 2021, alleging that the company had a “well-documented historical past of chauvinism and misogyny,” together with earlier lawsuits alleging gender discrimination.
The settlement was reached in in July 2023, however its particulars have been first reported Friday by the Instances of San Diego.
In response to the lawsuit, employees “sought to belittle and marginalize” Windsor in what she claimed was “an apparent try and coerce her to stop her job.”
Staff despatched unprofessional and “incendiary” emails, together with memes of Windsor that undermined her function, and have been instructed to disregard her emails to them, court docket paperwork alleged. Firefighters made feedback about her bodily look and falsely accused her of racism, Windsor claimed.
She was additionally accused of swerving her automobile towards staff within the OCFA headquarters parking zone on April 22, 2022, prompting a police report back to be filed. Windsor mentioned in court docket paperwork that no such incident had occurred.
In one other incident cited within the lawsuit, Windsor mentioned her husband had given her a helmet defend, prompting OCFA staff to prank name her and confer with her as “Chief Windsor.”
Her lawyer, Christopher Saldaña, mentioned he couldn’t touch upon a lot of the lawsuit or settlement, citing a mutual non-disparagement clause included within the settlement.
Windsor “is pleased to have the case behind her and transfer on,” Saldaña mentioned.
A spokesperson for the Orange County Hearth Authority declined to touch upon the case, saying the company doesn’t touch upon personnel issues.
On one other event throughout the pandemic in March 2020, Windsor was not permitted into OCFA headquarters as a result of her temperature was increased than regular. Believing it was due to her lengthy drive to work and ingesting espresso, Windsor returned a short while later and was permitted in when her temperature was regular.
“However, a number of firefighters employed by OCFA began a rumor that Windsor could also be ailing and she or he was placing the lives of different OCFA staff in peril,” the lawsuit alleged.
In response to court docket filings, Windsor tried to tell a deputy chief concerning the incidents, however she was informed OCFA had no mechanism for an executive-level worker to file a criticism alleging gender bias.
