Nan Hegerty's Discrimination Suit

Was former Milwaukee Police Chief Nan Hegerty a victim of gender discrimination?

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee's first female police chief contends that she was discriminated against when the Fire and Police Commission chose to pay her successor a higher salary than she received.

Nannette Hegerty filed a gender discrimination complaint with the Equal Rights Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development this month, Assistant City Attorney Don Schriefer said Sunday.

At stake could be thousands of dollars of back pay as well as a boost to Hegerty's pension, which is based on her last three years of salary.

Schriefer is investigating Hegerty's complaint for the city.

He said the differences between Hegerty's background when she became chief in 2003 and that of current Chief Edward Flynn should disprove her claims of discrimination.

"From the little bit I know of the case so far, I should probably be able to demonstrate there is no discrimination here," Schriefer said.

Hegerty's attorney, John Fuchs, could not be reached Sunday. Mayor Tom Barrett's chief of staff, Patrick Curley, declined to comment. WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) first broke news of the claim Sunday morning.

Hegerty is the second Milwaukee police chief who has pursued legal action against the city.

Arthur Jones, the city's first permanent African-American police chief, filed a racial discrimination complaint against the city with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2002. That grew into two lawsuits filed in 2004, after Jones lost a bid for mayor.

Hegerty came to the chief's job after serving as U.S. marshal in the eastern district of Wisconsin. She left earning a salary of $132,544.

Flynn was hired last year after 20 years as police chief of five different departments. Flynn's salary of $143,881 is 8.5% higher than what Hegerty made, but less than the $155,000 he received in his previous position as police commissioner for Springfield, Mass.

Although Hegerty might have had managerial experience as a marshal, she had not served as a police chief before, Schriefer said.

Pay for the new police chief was hotly contested by the Milwaukee Common Council when it voted in November to raise salaries for the mayor, council and aldermen and thereby allow the Fire and Police Commission to approve the chief's salary at any level below the mayor's pay. Otherwise, the commission would have needed council approval to pay more than $127,175 a year, something it had done for the past three police chiefs, including Hegerty.

So we have another ex-police chief filing suit against Milwaukee for discrimination.

When Arthur Jones cried discrimination, both his suits were dismissed.

Now, Hegerty is following in his footsteps and making a fool of herself, too.

It's a mistake for Hegerty to claim gender discrimination by comparing her salary with that of current police chief Ed Flynn.

She and Flynn are apples and oranges.

Hegerty is kidding herself if she believes that she was paid less because of her gender.

At best, Hegerty was a mediocre chief. Given her prior experience and her performance as police chief, I think she was overpaid.