KC city attorney cursed, made false statement in discrimination trial, lawyer says
A city attorney for Kansas City has been accused of throwing tantrums, cursing and making a false claim in court during a recent multi-million dollar discrimination lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed against the city by former Kansas City Health Department employee Shahidah Hazziez, who said she faced intimidation while applying for a job with the city. She was eventually denied the job, which her attorneys believed was an act of retaliation for refusing to drop a prior workplace discrimination lawsuit.
When the lawsuit for the retaliation claim went to trial on May 22, city attorney Tara Kelly, who was one of three lawyers representing the city, was sanctioned by a judge for falsely claiming Hazziez had been convicted of a crime.
The lawsuit was filed in Jackson County Circuit Court on Dec. 3, 2018 against the City of Kansas City.
Court transcripts from the trial show Kelly cursed at another attorney and stormed out of the courtroom as punitive damages for the city were being discussed. Kelly also allegedly snatched a pen away from another attorney and scratched out what they had written on a legal pad.
This is the second time in four months that an attorney for the city has been accused of lying or making false statements in connection with a workplace lawsuit.
In March, city attorney Saskia Jacobse was accused of covering up findings that indicated a paramedic was discriminated against and harassed by her supervisor before she died. The findings were part of a lawsuit against the city filed by the woman’s family.
Jacobse was also one of two attorneys who represented the city in Hazziez’s two-day unemployment hearing where she was denied benefits.
Attorney Sonal Bhatia, who represented Hazziez, said Kelly’s behavior during the trial was surprising. She had never seen a judge sanction an attorney by instructing a jury to disregard certain claims as inaccurate and improper in court, she said.
She had also never seen someone curse in front of the judge.
“We were just utterly shocked because that’s never ever ever happened in a courtroom to us,” Bhatia said. “I would characterize it as disrespectful. To everyone who’s been on this very long journey, especially the judge and jury.”
On May 31 punitive damages for the city were set at $1 million, which will be paid in addition to the jury’s $2.4 million.
“In this case itself, the jury returned two of the three counts in the favor of the City,” Sherae Honeycutt, a spokeswoman for the city, said in a written statement Thursday. “We respect jury decisions and, as we always do, we will leave our advocacy to the courtroom, rather than the press.”
City Attorney Matt Gigliotti, the head of the city’s law department, did not respond to a request for comment.
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Bhatia said she hopes Kansas Citians understand the importance of such trials. She said it is crucial to pay attention to how city officials are behaving and representing the taxpayers’ best interest.
“Especially the city government should be a model for treating people in a way that’s free from discrimination.”
Former Kansas City employee sues
Shahidah Hazziez spent about one year working for the Kansas City Health Department before suing the city for unfair treatment.
The first lawsuit in 2017 alleged Hazziez was selected for a random drug test and fired for not being able to complete it due to a medical condition.
As the lawsuit played out in court, Hazziez applied for unemployment benefits. But she was denied because of her “misconduct” related discharge.
She asked her former supervisor with the health department to write a letter explaining why she was discharged, but they declined.
Then, the city refused to hire her for another position that she had interviewed and applied for.
An October 2016 letter from city attorney Brett Kassen offered Hazziez a job as a digital communication coordinator, which had responsibilities similar to her prior work. The attorney said he could “prevent” her from obtaining the job or he could “bless” the hire, as long as she dropped the lawsuit and stopped seeking compensation, according to the charge of discrimination filed with the Missouri Commission on Human Rights.
The lawsuit concluded Hazziez had suffered discriminatory treatment and awarded her $172,000 in October 2017.
A judge required Hazziez to file another lawsuit if she wanted to seek damages for being denied the communication coordinator position.
So she did, and a seven-day trial ensued.
City attorney’s conduct at trial
Hazziez sued for retaliatory treatment at the hands of city government.
At trial, during a cross examination, city attorney Tara Kelly made a false statement about Hazziez’s criminal record.
She falsely claimed that Hazziez had pleaded guilty to an offense, when Hazziez had not been convicted of any crime.
“We brought that immediately to the judge’s attention,” Bhatia said.
Days before the verdict, the judge instructed the jury to ignore Kelly’s assertion as they deliberated.
Bhatia said she had “never seen that kind of sanction happen in any other trial,” throughout her decade-long career with the firm.
Ultimately the jury decided in favor of Hazziez.
The city attorney’s behavior continued to bother the plaintiff’s lawyers on May 31, when the jury met again to determine the amount of punitive damages to be paid by the city for the retaliation.
Bhatia’s fellow attorney E.E Keenan, was using a large legal pad on an easel during his cross examination, when Kelly “came up, grabbed our pen and made big X’s through every single thing that he had written,” Bhatia said.
After the interaction Keenan told the jury: “I don’t think anything better illustrates how the city does business, or what you saw in this courtroom, then what the city just did here,” A court transcript said.
With 56 seconds left for Keenan to make his closing arguments, Kelly accused him of personally attacking her.
The two then approached the bench. Keenan said he “absolutely” was referring to actions during the case, not Kelly personally.
In response, Kelly denied his statement.
“F--- off,” she said.
Keenan and Bhatia said they did not file a complaint against Kelly after the exchange.
“We’re expected to be professional and model courtesy to each other and there are rules locally that we’re supposed to follow,” Bhatia said.
“It was all very surprising... Sometimes things heat up but I’ve never seen anything like this in the court room... I’ve never heard anyone use any sort of language like this in front of a judge or a jury,” Bhatia said.
She remembers seeing Kelly storm out of the room, slamming the door after the interaction, moments before the jury reached a decision on damages.
“After she walked out there was this loud crashing sound from the hallway,” Bhatia said. “I’m still not sure what all of that was.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
