Las Vegas approves settlement in sex video lawsuit

The Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday agreed to pay $280,000 to resolve claims by an ex-city firefighter that a sex video investigation was mishandled by the fire department.

Sadie Helm, a firefighter/paramedic who resigned last year, sued the city in federal court in March 2019, accusing senior fire personnel of allowing a sexually explicit video of her to be circulated, without her knowledge, from employee to employee within the department.

The video was allegedly provided by a spurned ex-boyfriend within the Henderson Fire Department and started to make the rounds in the Las Vegas and Henderson fire departments in June 2018, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claimed that the Las Vegas Fire Department refused to properly investigate her complaints while issuing “unreasonably light” discipline to colleagues who admitted complicity in the video’s circulation.

Helm said she was subjected to sexual and gender harassment thereafter, including from senior fire employees, and also that someone had shot a bullet through the sunroof window of her unoccupied parked car as a means to silence her.

The city, as it did earlier this week, declined to comment on the settlement reached with Helm, which includes the costs of actual damages and attorneys’ fees.

“I think it’s a message to anyone who’s going to let their employees engage in the behavior of this type, this type of behavior in today’s age does not go unnoticed,” attorney Jenny Foley, who represented Helm, said Tuesday.

The federal complaint named as defendants the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson, and a dozen Las Vegas fire personnel. Claims were later dropped against the city of Henderson, Helm’s ex-boyfriend, Nathan Hannig, and four Las Vegas employees, court records show.

The settlement approved Wednesday resolved the claims against the remaining defendants.

Contact Shea Johnson at sjohnson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272. Follow @Shea_LVRJ on Twitter.