Jury awards $200,000 to KC fire captain in retaliation, discrimination case
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jury awards $200,000 to Capt. Anthony Seymour for whistleblower retaliation claim.
- Jurors found the city liable for retaliation but rejected disability discrimination claim.
- Lawsuit alleges KCFD mismanaged FAA funds for airport and aircraft emergency training.
A Jackson County jury late Monday awarded $200,000 in damages to a Kansas City fire captain who alleged he was a victim of retaliation after reporting mismanagement and discrimination by the department.
Jurors found the city liable on Capt. Anthony Seymour’s claims of retaliation for whistleblowing but not on his allegations that he was discriminated against because he had a disability associated with COVID-19.
The five-day trial wrapped up around 9:30 p.m. after the jury deliberated for several hours.
“Today, I’m grateful,” Seymour said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “I’m thankful to the men and women of the jury for their time, care, and commitment to fairness, and to the Jackson County Court for ensuring this process was handled with integrity and respect.”
Seymour called the process “a long and difficult journey” and said he was relieved to have it behind him.
“I could not have endured it without the unwavering love, patience, and strength of my family,” he said. “Their support carried me through every step. Throughout my career, my commitment has always been to serve the people of Kansas City and to stand alongside my brothers and sisters at the Kansas City Fire Department who do that work every single day with courage and dedication.
“That commitment has not changed. I look forward to moving ahead with gratitude, humility, and continued service.”
The fire department declined to comment on the verdict.
“KCFD will not be issuing any statements with regards to this matter,” Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins told The Star in an email. “KCFD can not comment on legal and personnel matters.”
The city provided a brief response Tuesday afternoon.
“The jury found in favor of the City on the employment retaliation claim and found in favor of the plaintiff on the whistleblower retaliation claim, awarding $200,000,” spokeswoman Sherae Honeycutt said in an email. “The City has no further comment on the verdict at this time.”
The verdict came on newly appointed Kansas City Fire Chief Craig Buckley’s first day on the job. City officials announced Friday that Buckley, a former interim fire chief with the City of Orlando, would be the new head of the Kansas City Fire Department.
Buckley replaces Fire Chief Ross Grundyson, who retired on Saturday but will remain “on a limited-term contract for an additional month or two to assist the new chief as he transitions into his role,” according to an email Grundyson sent KCFD employees on Friday.
Seymour, who has been with the Kansas City Fire Department for more than two decades, filed the lawsuit against the City of Kansas City in May 2024 in Jackson County Circuit Court.
The lawsuit alleged unlawful retaliation under the Missouri Human Rights Act and unlawful whistleblower retaliation.
“Defendants failed to make good faith efforts to enforce policies to prevent discrimination and retaliation against its employees, including Seymour,” the lawsuit said.
City denied allegations
The city denied all claims, arguing that “any disciplinary action taken against the Plaintiff resulted from Plaintiff’s own violations of City policy.”
Seymour said that throughout his employment with KCFD, he met or exceeded the expectations of all of his positions and received positive reviews.
In 2020, the lawsuit said, Seymour contracted COVID-19 during the early stages of the pandemic and continued to experience symptoms associated with “long COVID.” The condition affected his breathing and lung capacity, the lawsuit said, and he was on intermittent medical leave through much of 2020 and 2021.
Because medical professionals told him to limit his exposure to smoke and fire, Seymour said he applied for a transfer from Station 47 to Station 16, which is near Kansas City International Airport and has fewer fire calls than most other KCFD stations.
Seymour’s request was approved, and he transferred in mid-2023. But soon after he began working at Station 16, the lawsuit alleged, he noticed that he was being criticized and “nitpicked,” often in front of others, and “significantly more” than other employees.
Personnel at KCFD Station 16 were required to be trained for certain airport and aircraft emergencies, serving as a backup to the main KCI airport fire station, the lawsuit said, and those employees received an extra 5% in pay to acknowledge the additional training and duties.
The city received funding from the Federal Aviation Administration or a similar agency to provide the airport-related training to Station 16 employees, the lawsuit said. But Seymour alleged that when he asked one of the battalion chiefs when he and other employees would receive the training, he was told it wasn’t going to happen.
Told to ‘drop the issue’
When Seymour said he understood that the training was mandatory for Station 16 employees, the battalion chief told him to “just be thankful” for the 5% extra pay they were receiving, the lawsuit alleged, and “encouraged him to drop the issue.”
Seymour believed the lack of required training violated the law and constituted mismanagement and a substantial danger to public health or safety, the lawsuit said. Moreover, it said, he believed that employees receiving extra pay for airport training — training that the KCFD received federal funding for but did not provide — was unlawful, mismanagement, a gross waste of funds and abuse of authority.
Seymour repeatedly reported those concerns to numerous KCFD officials and to the FAA, the lawsuit said, and the FAA had an open investigation into the issue.
The lawsuit also alleged that because Seymour hadn’t received airport-related training, he wasn’t allowed to take on extra shifts at the KCI airport fire station. But those involved in the decision not to provide the training to Station 16 employees were picking up the shifts at KCI themselves, it said.
Seymour said he reported the airport training concerns to another battalion chief, who threatened him to stop complaining. In 2023, while responding to a vehicle accident, Seymour’s team briefly couldn’t find the site, the lawsuit said, due to a misunderstanding about the radio channel.
Upon arrival, it said, the same battalion chief publicly ridiculed Seymour’s team over the radio for not following directions. When Seymour tried to clarify what had happened through another captain, the lawsuit said, the battalion chief aggressively confronted him, screaming, “You are a f------ idiot!” inches from Seymour’s face and suggesting no one wanted him at Station 16.
Seymour feared he would be physically assaulted, the lawsuit said, adding that the incident was witnessed by a Highway Patrol officer and recorded by the cruiser camera. But before Seymour could file a report, according to the lawsuit, the battalion chief filed a preemptive, false report against Seymour, backed by two questionable witnesses: a subordinate and a firefighter facing discipline.
The Fire Department accepted the battalion chief’s account without seeking statements from Seymour’s team, a tow truck driver at the scene or the Highway Patrol officer, the lawsuit said. The department also didn’t request the video footage from the cruiser. The investigation remained unresolved nearly a year later, it said.
Due to ongoing fear of retaliation and the failure to resolve the investigation, Seymour said he requested a change in his chain of command, but it was denied, and Seymour continued to face excessive scrutiny, including unjust “write-ups” and repeated “investigations.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2026 at 11:39 AM.
