City of Vallejo Retaliated Against Female Fire Captain; Parties Settle for $5 Million Before Damages Phase

Ratner Molineaux, LLP and The Law Office of Christina Giorgio, P.C. secure retaliation verdict and settlement for former Fire Captain Melisse Leitzke, who alleged the City retaliated against her after she complained of gender discrimination within the Vallejo Fire Department

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Aug. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A Solano County jury has found that the City of Vallejo unlawfully retaliated against Fire Captain Melisse Leitzke after she complained of gender discrimination within the Vallejo Fire Department, in violation of California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The jury returned its liability verdict on Friday, July 31, 2026. Before the case proceeded to a separate damages phase, the parties reached a $5 million settlement resolving Captain Leitzke's claims.

Captain Leitzke served on the Vallejo Fire Department since January 2000, when she began her career as a Firefighter/Paramedic. Vallejo promoted her to Engineer and, in 2016, to Fire Captain; one of only three female Fire Captains in Vallejo history. Captain Leitzke had hoped to become the first Vallejo Fire Department Female Battalion Chief. However, Vallejo derailed Captain Leitzke's career when it retaliated against her after she complained that the Fire Chief discriminated against her because of her gender.

Captain Leitzke alleged that she was demoted in 2022 following an unsubstantiated complaint of intentional misconduct arising from a fire scene, and that the City kept her on prolonged administrative leave in retaliation for the gender discrimination complaint she had filed internally in November 2022.

Leitzke v. City of Vallejo, Case No. 23-02170, was tried before the Hon. Wendy G. Getty in Department Eight of the Solano County Superior Court. Trial began July 14, 2026, with bifurcated liability and damages phases.

"This verdict confirms what Melisse has known for years, that the City of Vallejo retaliated against her for speaking out about gender discrimination," said Shelley A. Molineaux of Ratner Molineaux, LLP, counsel for Ms. Leitzke. "We are pleased that the City ultimately agreed to resolve this case rather than put our client through further proceedings, and we hope this result encourages other public employers to take complaints of discrimination seriously the first time they are raised and to take their obligation to prevent retaliation once an employee makes such a complaint seriously."

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SOURCE Ratner Molineaux, LLP