Former firefighter sues Petaluma, alleges sexual harassment

Petaluma’s only female firefighter, who resigned in May, is suing the city in Sonoma County Superior Court, alleging sexual harassment.

Andrea Waters, 35, is seeking loss of wages and other unspecified financial damages for harassment, discrimination and retaliation she claims she suffered beginning shortly after she was hired in 2008 until last year.

Only the second female firefighter in the department - and the first in almost 40 years - Waters beat out 250 other applicants to fill a firefighter-paramedic opening. She came from Tucson, Ariz., where she had 5½ years of experience.

Her suit, filed last month, claims that “beginning almost immediately, (Waters) was subjected to harassment and discrimination based upon her sex. Indeed, even before her first day of work she was told words to the effect that there were people in the Fire Department who did not want her there and that she should watch her back.”

The city hasn’t filed a formal response to the claims. Discovery, where each side exchanges information, depositions and hearings, could begin next year, along with mediation hearings.

Neither City Attorney Eric Danly nor Waters’ attorney, Deborah Kochan of Berkeley, could be reached Friday.

The city has said it will conduct its own investigation of the complaint. City Council members discussed the suit in closed session last month.

The suit claims Waters was treated as a “second-class citizen” in the otherwise male department, which has about?40 firefighters. Waters was paid about $118,000 in pay, overtime and other pay, according to the state’s public employee pay database.

The suit says Waters was denied training provided to male department members, her performance was hyper-scrutinized, criticisms about her work were fabricated and she was held to unreasonable standards that her male counterparts were not.

She also alleges she was denied trades in work shifts, wasn’t provided a shower facility or changing and sleeping area private from the men, and that she was forced to wait to use the facilities at times when her male co-workers did not want to use them.

“Even so, she was still walked in on and made to feel uncomfortable,” the suit claims.

At other times, when she complained that she was being singled out, she was retaliated against, she alleges. She said she received her first-ever negative review and that her supervisor mocked and humiliated her.

The suit doesn’t specifically describe any individual incidents or whether she reported the alleged activity to department leaders or the city’s human resources department.

As a result of the treatment and stress, she claims, she was forced to go on leave. Ultimately, she quit in May.

In a 2012 feature story on her in the Petaluma Argus-Courier, Waters, who competed in triathlons, said she wasn’t “cut any slack because she is a woman, nor would she want to be.”

A battalion chief’s wife made curtains to partition off private areas for Waters, the story said, and “we worked out the bathroom situation so that she could have privacy and it was no problem. It’s just common decency and we want to make everyone feel comfortable.”

Fire Chief Larry Andersen was quoted at the time saying Waters was intelligent, had great street smarts and was well-respected by her colleagues.

The suit alleges the behavior created a hostile work environment, gender discrimination and retaliation, all violations of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. The suit seeks financial damages related to loss of pay, interest, attorney’s costs and other fees.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 762-7297 or lori.carter?@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter?@loriacarter.