U.S. Magistrate Judge Gwynne E. Birzer disagreed Monday with former Topeka Fire Capt. Barbara Hack’s assertion that she was unable to get a fair trial in Topeka’s federal sex discrimination lawsuit which she is suing against the Topeka city government.

Birzer issued a written ruling calling for the trial in the case to be held in Topeka, as city attorneys had requested, instead of Kansas City, Kansas, as Hack had requested.

Monday’s ruling was consistent with an oral ruling made by Birzer during a court hearing held on October 16.

What does Birzer’s ruling say about a separate Topeka case?

Birzer’s ruling notes that attorneys representing the city argued that Hack’s concerns had been “eliminated” by the outcome of a case in which a federal jury in Topeka ruled Sept. 19 in favor of the police captain of Topeka Colleen Stuart and Maj. Jana Kizzar in their decision. sex discrimination lawsuit against the city.

Jurors deliberated less than two hours before unanimously siding with Stuart and Kizzar.

Birzer’s ruling notes that in August, U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes denied Stuart and Kizzar’s request to hold their trial in Kansas City, Kansas, after the attorneys representing them “failed to demonstrated how jury selection was tainted by articles published about the Topeka police. Department and the case.

What else did the magistrate say?

Hack’s attorneys, in a document filed Sept. 19, the same day the verdict was reached in Kizzar and Stuart’s trial, reiterated their earlier request that the trial in Hack’s case be held in Kansas City, Kansas .

“The plaintiff does not believe she can obtain a fair trial in Topeka, Kansas, due to the publicity this case has received,” the document states. “When the case was filed, the Topeka Capital Journal published an article about the lawsuit, linking this lawsuit to a similar lawsuit filed by Brent Dorsey against the Topeka Fire Department around the same time.”

The filing included a link to this article, published in September 2023 in The Capital-Journal.

Dorsey, who is black, pursues a separate ongoing suit against the city, alleging racial discrimination. Dorsey also requests that the trial in his case be held in Kansas City, Kansas.

Hack’s lawyers, in their Sept. 19 filing, also mentioned Stuart and Kizzar’s lawsuit and included a link to an August 2024 Capital-Journal article about it.

“Due to the high-profile cases against the City of Topeka that have recently permeated the Topeka media, the plaintiff cannot obtain a fair trial in Topeka,” he said.

More: Why the city of Topeka is seeking a new trial in a sex discrimination lawsuit it lost

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In his order issued Monday, Birzer concluded: “Based on the articles cited by Plaintiff, the Court cannot determine how the jury pool would be tainted by September 2023 and August 2024, in media coverage of a trial likely scheduled for late 2025. Additionally, the authority in this district favors addressing potential issues of jury bias due to media coverage of potential jurors’ voir dires.

Birzer also concluded that the trial in Hack’s trial should take place in Topeka because it would be easier, faster and more economical; more practical for witnesses; and would provide better access to most of the documents that could be used as evidence.

The court in the Hack case has not yet ruled on his lawyers’ request filed on September 27 seeking to merge its discrimination suit against the city with Dorsey’s.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at [email protected] or 785-213-5934.

This article was originally published on Topeka Capital-Journal: Sex discrimination lawsuit against city of Topeka to be tried here