LANSING — The city of Lansing in Michigan and its fire chief are being sued in part over what a lawsuit claims was his directive this summer that two male employees check to ensure that a female employee was wearing a bra while on duty.
The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 20 in Ingham County Circuit Court by Cecilia Major, includes three claims of violations of the state's Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act for disparate treatment, retaliation and a hostile work environment. It names the city and Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant as defendants.
"This case comes down to the male Fire Chief dictating what is worn under a woman's clothing, when it has no bearing on Ms. Major's ability to do her job as a first responder whose priority is keeping her community safe," Hannah Fielstra, Major's Detroit-based attorney, said in a statement.
"While an employer can require certain clothing, including undergarments, there must be a nondiscriminatory reason for doing so. We allege Ms. Major was singled out and called into meetings to discuss her undergarments in front of other City employees, including male supervisors. Then, two of those male supervisors were ordered by the Chief to check daily to ensure Ms. Major was wearing a bra. This has been humiliating and demeaning for my client and harkens back to a 50s-era outlook on women, something no woman, or man, should have to endure today in the workplace."
Sturdivant and Scott Bean, a spokesperson for Mayor Andy Schor, declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
From Aug. 27 to Nov. 11, Sturdivant was on leave from the city, which officials have declined to explain. On Nov. 3, Schor told the State Journal he had no concerns about Sturdivant's ability to return from leave and lead the department going forward.
Sturdivant's leave also coincided with atwo-month internal investigation into how a music video was filmedat Lansing Fire Station 1 downtown. The female singer, who goes by the name P.B. Yanna, can be seen in the video wearing revealing clothing in several scenes.
A summary of that investigation, which the city provided to the State Journal, said LFD leadership approved the video on Aug. 31 — days after Sturdivant's leave began — but the approval came "without the knowledge or support of other departments of the municipal government." Schor has since signed an executive order restricting the use of city buildings and property for commercial filming.
The investigative summary does not identify who in LFD leadership approved the video, but says the department's "senior leadership did not adequately foster a climate that could have encouraged dissent and critical analysis of the proposed event."
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Lawsuit details meetings with LFD leadership, Sturdivant
On June 17, Assistant Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemmons summoned Major, a female paramedic-firefighter employed by the city since 2021, for a meeting. According to the lawsuit, Edwards-Clemmons told Major that Sturdivant had ordered her to call the meeting to determine why Major "was not wearing a bra at all times while at work."
Prior to the meeting Major had not been told of issues with her not wearing a bra. During the meeting, she raised several concerns to Edwards-Clemmons about the nature of the meeting, including that she was being singled out or targeted and asked about any complaints that had been filed, according to the lawsuit. She also asked about the department providing "high-impact bras as part of their uniforms" and adding "feminine hygiene stations to the women's restrooms." Edwards-Clemmons "did not have direct responses" to those issues, the lawsuit claims.
Days after the meeting, Major, who is the only woman assigned to her firehouse, emailed Edwards-Clemmons to get the names and email addresses for human resources representatives "so that she could convey her concerns with the meeting," according to the lawsuit.
Edwards-Clemmons responded two days later, according to the lawsuit, but did not provide the names or contact information for city human resources employees. Instead, Edwards-Clemmons said that Sturdivant had directed her to inform Major that everything should be directed to his office, "effectively discouraging (Major) from going to human resources with her concerns," according to the lawsuit.
Around this time, Sturdivant had "expressed his frustration" with Major's actions and that the issue hadn't been resolved during the initial meeting. He also made the comment that the battalion chief for Major's firehouse "could not 'control his people,'" according to the lawsuit.
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Sturdivant gave direct orders, lawsuit says
On June 24, Sturdivant called a meeting with Major, Edwards-Clemmons and two others — an LFD battalion chief and captain — who are both men, according to the lawsuit. Major had a union representative attend the meeting with her.
"Defendant Sturdivant started the meeting directly stating that the purpose of the meeting was that Ms. Major had not been wearing a bra and directly asked Ms. Major if she was wearing a bra," according to the lawsuit. He said it was "improper" for her not to wear a bra, which the lawsuit claims is not mandated by city policy.
When Major asked Sturdivant if wearing a bra was mandatory, he said the policy is up to his interpretation and that under his authority it was improper not to wear a bra. According to the lawsuit, Sturdivant added that he had received complaints, but "refused to tell (Major) what the complaints involved and told her they were none of her business."
The meeting ended with Sturdivant issuing two direct orders. The first was that Major was required to wear a bra while on duty. The second, according to the lawsuit, was that the two male employees who were present for the meeting were "to check to ensure that" Major was wearing a bra while on duty.
After the meeting, Major reported her concerns to the city. The lawsuit claims that the city found that the relevant policies and interpretations of them needed to be updated, but did not investigate Major's discrimination claims.
On July 1, Major filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
She filed her lawsuit against the city on Nov. 20, and neither the city nor Sturdivant have filed responses.
Contact reporter Matt Mencarini atmjmencarini@lsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal:Lansing fire chief sued over order to female firefighter to wear bra