Civil Rights & Constitutional Law
Former Port Clinton firefighter and EMT amends suit against former fire chief Kent Johnson and City...
May 25, 2024
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Port Clinton, OH – On July 16, 2024, A visiting judge of the Ottawa County Court of Common Pleas tossed former Port Clinton Fire Chief Kent Johnson’s entire lawsuit against his former employer the City of Port Clinton, Ohio, and its officials.
Johnson, who is accused in a federal civil-rights lawsuit and by an outside city investigation of repeatedly sexually harassing and assaulting former firefighter and emergency medical technician Rebekah Huskey, filed a lawsuit on April 29, 2024 against the city. In it, Johnson claimed the city wrongfully fired him or otherwise mishandled his termination after Ms. Huskey accused him of wrongdoing.
Johnson’s now-dead claims included allegations that the city violated various civil service and procedural statutes, intentionally inflicted emotional distress on him, defamed him, retaliated against him, and deprived him of his due-process rights. The court ruled against him on all claims and dismissed them “with prejudice”—meaning Johnson can never refile them.
In particular, the Court found that the City did not defame Johnson by releasing a report confirming that Johnson both overpaid and underpaid Ms. Huskey for her time. In her federal complaint, Huskey notes that many of the days she alleges she was harassed coincide with days Johnson reported that she either did not work or worked fewer hours than she did. The judge also found that the city did not, as a matter of law, intentionally inflict emotional distress on Johnson when they sent police officers to serve him his order of removal.
This dismissal is the latest development in the various proceedings arising from Johnson’s alleged sexual harassment and abuse of Ms. Huskey. Johnson also appealed his firing to the City’s Civil Service Commission, which wrapped up hearings on the matter earlier this month. The commissioners are expected to issue a finding on Johnson’s termination this fall. Ms. Huskey’s lawsuit alleges that the process has been corrupted by the continued participation of Commission Chair Carl Koebel, whose son David Koebel is a key Johnson ally.
Johnson also faces a civil suit, originally filed by Ms. Huskey last year. In it, Ms. Huskey accuses Johnson, among other things, of repeated sexual assault, sexual harassment in person and over text message, unauthorized use of Ms. Huskey’s cellphone to transfer and keep her intimate photos, and workers’ compensation fraud.
Johnson has also been the subject of criminal investigations, including one by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Subodh Chandra, lead counsel for Ms. Huskey, commented, "Johnson's suit against the city was always a baseless, legally defective Hail Mary. It's not surprising the judge saw right through it. We hope Johnson didn't spend too much money on such a poorly-thought-out-and-researched gambit. Those resources will be needed to pay the eventual judgment we intend to secure against him."
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