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A former emergency medical services coordinator with the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District reached a settlement agreement with the agency last month after suing them and later leaving her position in 2023, marking the end of a contentious legal battle between the two sides that had been set to go to trial next year.
Laura Begin, a former EMS coordinator and registered nurse with the district from 2019 to 2023, filed the civil complaint at the end of her tenure there in January 2023, at which point she said she was still employed with the district but “not working because of the severe emotional distress” that stemmed from alleged workplace discrimination, harassment and abuse.
Terms of the conditional settlement agreement, which have not been disclosed publicly, still need to be finalized by a judge – scheduled for the fall.
Neither the plaintiff’s attorneys nor an SRVFPD spokesperson had responded to a request for comment as of Wednesday evening. Attorneys for the defense have denied any and all allegations in multiple court filings in the three-year-long legal battle.
Begin alleges that she was passed up for a promotion and suffered other forms of retaliation that culminated in her departure from the district after reporting discriminatory behavior and harassment from her former supervisor, including sexually explicit comments.
The harassment and discrimination allegations stem from a 2020 party at the former fire chief’s house, according to Begin, during which she said she initially got upset over explicit comments from former deputy chief John Duggan, who had been her first supervisor with the district until months prior.
“Chief Duggan made several sexually explicit comments to Ms. Begin at the party causing Plaintiff to become upset and distressed,” Begin’s attorneys wrote in the initial complaint.
“Duggan commented on the tattoo on Plaintiff’s upper right shoulder saying, in a leering, sexually suggestive manner, that he did not know she had a tattoo,” they continued. “Duggan asked, in a similar leering manner, where else did she have tattoos that he could not see, suggesting that the tattoos could be in or around Ms. Begin’s private parts.”
When she declined to answer, her former boss allegedly “doubled down” on inappropriate comments “by asking Ms. Begin if she had dildos and condoms in the party gift bags and if this was going to be a sex toy party” and trying to go home with her at the end of the night.
Begin alleges that while former fire chief Paige Meyer was also upset by the deputy chief’s behavior that night, he ultimately discouraged her from talking about the incident during a conversation at work days later.
“Meyer then made a statement about Ms. Begin not being like ‘Natalie,’ that if this happened to ‘Natalie,’ she would have blown it up and wanted him to do something about it, but ‘thank God you’re cool like that,'” Begin’s attorneys wrote.
“Ms. Begin felt intimidated,” they continued. “Plaintiff understood that Chief Meyer implied that ‘Natalie’s’ behavior should not be imitated. Meyer designed his comments to coerce Plaintiff to keep quiet about Duggan’s behavior and that SRVFPD would not address Duggan’s harassment.”
However, another incident the following month spurred Begin to submit a formal complaint over alleged multiple racial slurs that she said Duggan used repeatedly during a meeting. After submitting the report in writing, Begin alleges the deputy chief’s demeanor toward her changed dramatically and made it difficult to coordinate between divisions.
In April 2021, Begin alleges that she was passed over for a promotion after expressing a desire to be part of the management team, with the district allegedly operating without a head of emergency medical services rather than promoting her to the position. That and Duggan’s alleged ongoing hostility toward her led Begin to submit another complaint.
“The SRVFPD Human Resources Department supposedly investigated Ms. Begin’s complaints,” Begin’s attorneys wrote. “However, rather than discipline Duggan the ‘investigation’ resulted in Ms. Begin removed from EMS executive meetings and others at SRVFPD distanced themselves from her further retaliating against Plaintiff. As a result, Ms. Begin experienced extreme emotional distress and anxiety.”
Nonetheless, Begin said that she was hopeful that summer when an interim EMS division head was appointed, only to have the hope shattered later in the year by an alleged accidental phone call in which she heard him talking about her.
“He used terms such as, ‘look how she spins this (expletive),’ and ‘dude she is (expletive) wacked,'” Begin’s attorneys wrote. “Ms. Begin felt devastated by this.”
The series of incidents gave way to an emotional breakdown at a doctor’s appointment in November 2021 according to Begin, at which point she was placed on medical leave. As of the 2023 complaint, she said that she had proceeded to go on disability and was continuing to undergo intensive treatment for the toll the situation had taken on her mental health.
“Due to Defendant’s actions, Ms. Begin has experienced panic attacks, anxiety, depression, fear, and sadness,” Begin’s attorneys wrote. “This has affected her ability to work, her self-esteem, and her mental and physical wellbeing.”
A series of court actions between the two sides in the years since including amendments, demurrers, amended demurrers and demurrers to amended complaints tentatively culminated in a hearing on a motion for summary judgment from the district early last month.
Attorneys for SRVFPD sought to have Begin’s case thrown out on the basis of no triable issues of material fact and no admissible evidence proving discrimination. They alleged that she was not promoted to the EMS director role because she was not qualified, and that her allegations against Duggan constituted “sporadic” one-off incidents rather than a pattern that constituted a hostile work environment.
“Even if Plaintiff could establish a prima facie case of discrimination—and she cannot the District had legitimate business reasons for not promoting her, and she cannot meet her burden of producing significant evidence upon which a jury could find that those reasons were mere pretexts for discrimination,” attorneys for SRVFPD wrote in the motion for summary judgement filed Jan. 14.
Begin’s attorneys went on to file an opposition along with dozens of supporting documents and statements, with a judge ultimately failing to be persuaded by the district’s arguments and denying the motion for summary judgment last month.
“The evidence supports a reasonable inference Duggan’s repeated sexually suggestive remarks directed toward Begin and/or made in her presence coupled with evidence of Duggan’s aggressive remarks toward Begin was not merely behavior in which Plaintiff was treated the same as men in the District’s work environment, or at least the facts and inferences to be drawn from the facts are,” Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Reyes wrote in the June 3 ruling.
“On this record, the Court cannot find as a matter of law that Duggan’s sexual and other comments directed at Begin or made in her presence and his aggressive demeanor toward Begin were not severe or pervasive and did not result in an objectively and subjectively hostile work environment for Begin,” he continued.
At the June 3 hearing, the court went on to schedule a settlement conference for the case next April and set a trial date for next July.
Those dates were vacated weeks later, with the parties submitting a notice of conditional settlement on June 24. The agreement is set to be finalized by Oct. 1, at which point the case will be formally dismissed if the conditions of the agreement are met, according to court documents.
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