Council members Leslie B. McLemore, Kenneth Stokes, Bo Brown and Bettye K. Dagner-Cook voted to hire the firm. Council members Ben Allen and Margaret Barrett-Simon were not present.
 
In one lawsuit, 14 firefighters claim they were denied lieutenant positions because of their union involvement. During the test to become a lieutenant, union firefighters were interrupted, which violated testing rules, according to the Feb. 21 lawsuit. A lawsuit represents one side of a legal argument.
 
The exam also was changed on testing day, which is against policy, the lawsuit states. The firefighters are asking for lost wages, attorney fees and immediate promotions to lieutenant.
 
"We think it's part of a pattern of mistreatment of union members," said Philip Hearn, who is representing the firefighters. "We intend to prove that in court."

The city has been in labor contract negotiations with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 87 for several years. City Attorney Terry Wallace said he could not comment on pending litigation.

The Kullman Firm also will defend Jackson in federal court against claims by District Fire Chief Tony Davis. He is fighting a demotion in 2001 from division chief to district chief. In his lawsuit, Davis alleges his involvement in the firefighters union was the reason for his demotion. The trial could begin before U.S. District Judge William Barbour Jr. in December.

The council decided not to hire the Kullman Firm for a case Davis filed in Hinds County Circuit Court. Davis is asking Judge Bobby DeLaughter to reverse a 2002 Civil Service Commission decision to uphold a past suspension by the city. The council will reconsider next week hiring the firm for that case.

Comments about this article from the 2003 Grievance Committee Chairman, Richard Ozuna:

Well I guess San Antonio isn’t the only city that wastes their money in harassment suits. Apparently Jackson, Mississippi has lawyers that can’t bring enough to the table to show up in court and make a good showing. I wonder if these Jackson, Mississippi lawyers were the ones to support the actions by the city knowing that they would never have to show their faces in court. This kind of sounds like what we have here in San Antonio. The lawyers making the decisions don’t defend the city in court. Except in the Pre-Funded Health Care case where they did show up and they were sent away very, very unhappy. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. of Jackson, Mississippi said “the cases require expertise in labor law that the city's staff attorneys lack.” Maybe they lacked the expertise to make the recommendation in the first place. Sound familiar?

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