BENTON – Belleville didn’t discriminate or retaliate against police sergeant Kimberly Fulkerson, U.S. District Judge Staci Yandle ruled on Aug. 25.
She granted summary judgment to the city and canceled trial that would have started on Sept. 12.
On discrimination, Yandle found no evidence that Belleville promoted anyone who scored lower than Fulkerson on tests for lieutenant and master sergeant.
On retaliation, she found no evidence that any adverse employment action resulted from a complaint Fulkerson filed.
Belleville hired Fulkerson in 1994, and promoted her to sergeant in 2007.
She applied for lieutenant in 2009, but didn’t gain a promotion.
“From 2009 to 2018, Fulkerson failed to obtain the minimum passing score to be promoted to be lieutenant,” Yandle wrote.
“In 2018, she achieved the lowest qualifying score of any officers, scoring 67.93 with the next lowest being 84.88.”
Fulkerson filed a complaint in 2019, alleging hostile environment from day one.
"The last few years have been by far the hardest to endure," Fulkerson claimed.
She singled out lieutenant Todd Keilbach.
Captain Mark Heffernan investigated the complaint and reported to former chief William Clay, who found no cause to discipline Keilbach.
Retirement of captain John Moody later that year created a vacancy for lieutenant, but Clay didn’t open the vacant position for applications.
Fulkerson sued the city, police and fire commissioners, and Clay in 2020.
She alleged hostile environment, discrimination and retaliation.
She claimed Clay chose not to open the vacancy so she couldn’t apply.
Yandle found no evidence that legitimate financial reasons didn’t motivate Clay.
“Around the same time, the department experienced financial difficulties, its collective bargaining agreement expired, it lost at least a dozen officers, and furloughed two officers," she wrote.
She found Fulkerson argued that the budget increased but didn’t demonstrate how it was to be spent on promotions.
She found Fulkerson acknowledged that Clay had discretion to staff the department as he saw fit.
“In sum, there is no evidence in the record from which a jury could reasonably conclude that the city or board discriminated against Fulkerson because of her gender, let alone that a policy or widespread practice of discrimination against women existed in the department," she wrote.
On retaliation, Yandle found no statutory protection for the internal complaint.
She found Fulkerson didn’t claim or even suggest that Keilbach’s treatment of her was discriminatory or that their issues had anything to do with her gender.
On hostile environment, she found Fulkerson testified that she hadn’t been the subject of sexual harassment since 2007.
Thomas Kennedy, Sarah Hunt, and Nicole Matlock of Kennedy Hunt in St. Louis represented Fulkerson.
Thomas Hunter of Becker Hoerner in Belleville represented Belleville.