A judge Friday ordered a former Los Angeles County probationary firefighter to submit to a deposition by defense attorneys in her lawsuit in which she alleges gender discrimination from her first day on the job, that supervisors and colleagues called her a “dumb blonde” and that she was wrongfully terminated in 2022.
Plaintiff Kourtney Kuder’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges discrimination, harassment and failure to prevent discrimination and harassment. She seeks compensatory damages and a court order reinstating her to her former position.
On Friday, Judge Stephen P. Pfahler granted a motion to compel Kuder’s attorneys brought by county attorneys, who maintained in their court papers that on numerous occasions Kuder agreed to deposition dates only to cancel them later. The same lawyers also said that although Kuder is litigating her case in California, she lives in Tennessee.
Phahler ordered that the deposition take place by March 27, but said that if it cannot be held by then, both sides are to meet within 10 days and discuss an alternative date. The judge declined a county request to fine the plaintiff $4,080 for the cost of bringing the defense motion, noting that Kuder changed attorneys in January.
According to her suit filed in May 2023, Kuder, now 30, was one of five women when she started her firefighter academy training in June 2021 and one of four females when she graduated in October of that year.
A female fire captain who is now a battalion chief said at the time that the class was one of the strongest group of females the academy had produced in some time, according to the suit.
“With these parting words at graduation, plaintiff was excited to start working at a fire station and pursue her calling,” the suit states.
But to Kuder’s dismay, during her first shift at an Acton station a male engineer refused to report to work that day, saying he would not work with women, the suit states. Rather than “address the blatant sexist comments and attitude,” the county transferred Kuder to a station in Santa Clarita, the suit states.
“Within the first week of arriving, plaintiff recalls co-workers remarked about her body to the point of making her feel uncomfortable,” according to the suit, which further states that she was the only female at the station and worried that complaining would give her a reputation as someone who frequently griped.
Kuder was not given proper training and guidance in Santa Clarita and instead was “simply told to stop making excuses for not being able to complete a task,” even though a male new firefighter who sought the same help was assisted, the suit states.
Some of Kuder’s supervisors and colleagues referred to her as a “dumb blonde” and she was told that she “did not know anything,” the suit states.
Kuder was subsequently transferred to a Glendora station, where the alleged disparate treatment continued and false rumors circulated that she was a former porn star, according to her suit.
Kuder was discharged in August 2022, six weeks shy of finishing her probation. Management told her that the decision stemmed from off-duty conduct in May of that year in which she allegedly broke a woman’s glasses and cellphone, argued later with police and failed to report the incident to her superiors, the suit states.