A former fire investigator who worked for the Fairfax County Fire Department for 20 years has filed a lawsuit against 17 of her ex-colleagues, accusing them of bullying, sexual harassment and conspiring to get her to quit.
Patricia Tomasello said the harassment and discrimination started when she joined the department in 1996.
"Their goal was to continue a twenty-year-long vendetta instigated by Chief [Michael] Reilly and directed at her by senior officials and line-duty firefighters. This vendetta was encouraged by a number of fire chiefs and other subordinates located in the Fairfax County Fire Department," the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit said employees and fire chiefs, including current fire chief Richard Bowers, went to great lengths to have Tomasello removed from the department, including planting marijuana in her vehicle and accusing her of unprofessional conduct. In 2006, Tomasello was the first African-American woman to be promoted to fire investigator in the department.
Two of the employees named in the lawsuit resented her because she repeatedly denied their requests for "sexual favors," the lawsuit said.
She said the sexual harassment continued at a conference.