A former Vallejo fire captain will receive $5 million after settling with the city in a lawsuit alleging its Fire Department’s retaliation for gender discrimination complaints.
As part of the settlement, Melisse Leitzke will receive the payment and release all claims and rights to appeal, according to Shelley Molineaux, Leitzke’s attorney.
Leitzke joined the Vallejo Fire Department in 2000, when she was in her mid-20s. The lawsuit, filed in August 2023, details nearly two decades of being passed over for promotions, sexual harassment and reckless behavior by male colleagues without scrutiny.
She alleges her own actions were closely watched due to her speaking out against discrimination in the department. Leitzke was one of the only female firefighters in the department.
“It’s been a long road,” said Molineaux of the three-year litigation process.
“For most of the time, she’s felt that she’s misunderstood and has been made to feel like she’s a horrible firefighter and that her 22 years there wasn’t worth anything,” said Molineaux. “This is a great vindication of that.”
A jury agreed with the suit’s allegations that Leitzke was “materially and adversely affected” by her experience with the Fire Department, and that she was retaliated against after complaining of gender discrimination, according to a verdict form filed in Solano County Superior Court on Friday.
The lawsuit states the $5 million will cover lost wages and benefits, legal fees and emotional damages.
Contacted on Wednesday, the city of Vallejo declined to comment on the settlement.
In 2022, Leitzke, then a 22-year veteran of the department, was placed on administrative leave following accusations that she hosed down a reporter at a massive blaze at a salvage yard on Broadway in northern Vallejo.
She alleges that despite an investigation that ultimately cleared Leitzke of wrongdoing, the leave continued, followed by a notice of discipline — prompting Leitzke to take legal action after 23 years with the department.
Years of alleged retaliation
According to the lawsuit, the discrimination started early, around 2003, when a higher-up asked about her sex life and another coworker allegedly sexually harassed her. When she subsequently filed a complaint, which was dropped, her colleagues doubled down, she alleges.
In the years that followed, according to the lawsuit, Leitzke was “closely monitored, micromanaged, and set to different standards as a form of retaliation,” the court filing reads. Leitzke was allegedly referred to at one time as a “fat b—-, who needs to go,” and told another time she had “no business operating a nozzle.”
One colleague was allegedly promoted after a driving under the influence offense, while another continued to work unscathed from a complaint filed after he sent around videos of himself and a female coworker having sexual relations, according to the lawsuit.
Leitzke resigned from the department in 2024 at 47 years old after spending almost two years on administrative leave.
Molineaux said she hopes the successful suit “causes other public entities and city officials to reevaluate their own policies and practices and take these laws seriously — not just a checked box.”