LANSING — The city agreed to settle a lawsuit that alleged its former fire chief directed two male employees to check to ensure that a female firefighter and paradmedic was following orders and wearing a bra while on duty.
The lawsuit was filed by firefighter-paramedic Cecilia Major in November in Ingham County Circuit Court. On Dec. 12, days after the State Journal reported on the existence of the lawsuit, Mayor Andy Schor announced that Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant’s contract, which expired at the end of the year, would not be renewed.
In March, the city agreed to settle the lawsuit as part of an agreement that pays Major $220,000 and gives her three months of paid time off, which the agreement indicates began on April 1, according to a copy obtained through a public records request.
On April 7, attorneys for the city and for Major filed notice to an Ingham County judge that they had agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, a move that came before the city defended itself in court or formally responded to the lawsuit.
Schor declined to comment. City spokesperson Scott Bean, in a statement, said there was “an amicable settlement” that resulted in the dismissal.
“We are pleased that the firefighter involved, as well as the city, can move past this incident,” Bean said. “The City of Lansing made no admission of liability in this case, and the firefighter remains a valued member of our team of first responders. We appreciate her service to our community.”
Hannah Fielstra, an attorney for Major, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment for this story. At the time the lawsuit was filed, she told the State Journal that “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.”
On Friday, City Council President Peter Spadafore said he wasn’t aware of the settlement prior to a State Journal question about whether council voted to approve it. He said the city attorney has some settlement authority, but that council members get regular litigation updates.
The City Council met twice between March 18 and April 7, when Major signed the settlement and the stipulated order to dismiss the lawsuit was filed in court. Council will get its next scheduled litigation update on Monday, April 20, during a closed session portion of its Committee of the Whole meeting. The agenda lists 17 lawsuits to be discussed, but does not include the one related to Major’s allegations against Sturdivant.
The new city charter, approved by voters in November, says that “No civil litigation may be settled without the recommendation of the City Attorney and the consent of the City Council, except and to the extent that risks are covered by insurance.”
City would only release settlement through FOIA
On Friday, April 17, Bean said City Attorney Greg Venker kept Schor “advised throughout the process and informed him when an acceptable settlement was proposed,” and that the mayor “supported the recommendation.” Bean declined to provide settlement details, saying the city attorney’s office told him those details would only be released through a public records request. He added that city attorneys did not tell him the settlement details either.
It’s unclear why Venker required the information to be released through the state’s public records law, called the Freedom of Information Act.
Venker discussed his office’s public records work during his budget presentation at the Committee of the Whole meeting on April 6.
“By and in large, we hit the deadlines when we,” he said before pausing. “We hit the deadlines. That’s what I’ll say. There are always, I mean, FOIA is a very complicated process and we try to get it right.”
The city has failed to meet statutory deadlines in numerous records requests from State Journal in the past 12 months.
Venker did not respond to an email seeking a comment on the discrepancy between his statement to City Council and the repeated missed deadlines.
He also did not say why his office had not provided public records related to Major’s complaint, which the State Journal has paid for, more than six weeks passed the estimated deadline given by his office, which was March 3. Attorneys in the office have not responded to four other attempts by the newspaper to get a status update.
That request was for communications to or from Sturdivant, Schor, Deputy Mayor Christopher Mumby, Human Resources Director Elizabeth O’Leary, current Fire Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons or Administrative Chief David Odom that could have included discussions about allegations raised in the lawsuit. The city attorney’s office also attempted to close the request after the State Journal amended it to include fewer officials and days than the original request.
The city attorney’s office estimated 10 business days to provide the records and the State Journal paid the good-faith deposit on Feb. 17. As of April 20, the city’s online FOIA system shows that a final amount, normally due only when records are available, is past due. Venker did not respond to a State Journal question about the past due invoice or when the records will be available.
Lawsuit detailed meetings with LFD leadership, Sturdivant
In her lawsuit, Major said that in June 2025, Edwards-Clemmons, who was then the assistant chief, summoned Major for a meeting and 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.”
Major 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 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.
In January, Schor named Edwards-Clemmons as his pick to succeed Sturdivant.
Contact reporter Matt Mencarini at mjmencarini@lsj.com.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing pays 6-figure settlement to woman firefighter over bra dispute
Reporting by Matt Mencarini, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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