Ex-firefighter Tanja Vidovic won a $245,000 judgment against the city in December after jurors decided Tampa Fire Rescue discriminated against her because she was pregnant and fired her in retaliation for complaining about it. The city’s costs don’t end there, though. Tampa’s bills in the federal sex discrimination lawsuit are continuing to mount, and right now could theoretically cost the city more than $3 million.
It all depends on how much the judge grants Vidovic in lost wages and pension benefits, plus attorney’s fees. The city can challenge all that, and has already asked the trial judge to declare a mistrial.
Regardless, the city already has to pay $300,000 in attorney and trial costs for fighting the court case — and if the city loses its bid for a mistrial and decides to appeal the verdict, its legal bills would keep piling up.