The city of Anchorage has approved a $300,000 settlement with a former fire department employee who alleged she was fired in retaliation, in part, for filing a racial discrimination complaint.
In a lawsuit filed in 2023, Benedicte Galligan alleged that she had been fired after expressing concern that senior staff at the Anchorage Fire Department were making disparaging comments about female employees during a 2021 meeting. Earlier that year, Galligan had also raised allegations that a Black employee was admonished because a senior fire department official believed she’d distributed shirts that signaled support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Galligan filed a racial discrimination report over the incident on behalf of the employee.
The fire department later eliminated Galligan’s position, and she was reassigned to be an administrative assistant to then-Deputy Library Director Judy Eledge.
Galligan claimed that Eledge subjected her to racist, homophobic and otherwise inappropriate behavior. Galligan recorded, and later reported, Eledge’s comments to the city’s Human Resources Department and said in the lawsuit that its investigation was not impartial due to the HR director’s friendship and support of Eledge.
Galligan resigned in March 2023. In her lawsuit, she said the fire department fired her in retaliation for voicing her concerns, and the city was negligent in hiring officials who subjected her to “extreme or outrageous” conduct.
Earlier this month, in a report to the Anchorage Assembly, city attorneys announced that they’d reached a legal settlement with Galligan for $300,000. Galligan’s attorney declined an interview request but confirmed the settlement was in connection to her lawsuit.
Officials with Mayor Suzanne LaFrance’s office declined to comment. Events described in Galligan’s lawsuit occurred during the terms of acting-mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson and Mayor Dave Bronson.
