A lawsuit filed by former Michigan fire chief has been dismissed by the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Fire Chief David J. Obreiter was terminated in 2022 by Kalamazoo Township.
The termination followed questions over the chief’s handling of sexual harassment allegations brought by a female firefighter, and allegations of a toxic workplace. A battalion chief was also fired for the same reasons. Chief Obreiter filed a wrongful termination suit in 2023 alleging a violation of his due process rights.
The suit named the township and Township Manager Dexter A. Mitchell. The complaint alleged that the township manager pre-judged what he thought occurred, failed to fully investigate what actually occurred, and ignored evidence that showed the chief was properly handling the sexual harassment allegations based upon what was known at the time…