After four days of deliberations, a jury deadlocked on Monday and a mistrial was declared in a lawsuit over whether four San Diego firefighters were sexually harassed during the 2007 San Diego LGBT Pride parade. Their attorney in the case asked for $4 million in damages.

The 12-person jury could not get the required nine votes to determine whether any sexual harassment occurred, and the jury did not discuss damages, said jury forewoman Susan Wolking.

Jurors were only able to answer one question in the lawsuit and they voted 11-1 to determine firefighter Jason Hewitt was not subjected to repercussions at work for filing the lawsuit against the city and fire-rescue department. Hewitt testified he was promoted to captain in February.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael Anello set a retrial for Jan. 16.

“This was about greed. This was about getting money into their pockets,” said City Attorney Michael Aguirre afterwards. “These individuals were attempting to take $4 million in taxpayer funds. That is what this was about.”

Hewitt and the three other firefighters testified they were forced to drive a fire truck in the July 2007 parade in Hillcrest after one crew assigned originally to the parade dropped out. They said they were given only about five hours notice.

Several jurors said they were split in many different ways, and could not get the nine votes needed to answer any of the lawsuit’s key claims, such as whether the firefighters were sexually harassed, if the harassment was severe, and if a reasonable person would find the parade to be a hostile work environment.

John Ghiotto, Chad Allison, Alexander Kane, and Hewitt testified they were repeatedly subjected to jokes about hoses during the parade.

All four said they quickly tired of hearing comments such as “let me blow your hose, let me hold your hose” as they rode through the parade.

Fire Chief Tracy Jarman testified the policy requiring the department to participate in all parades has changed as a result of the firefighters’ complaints. She told the six-man, six-woman jury only volunteers will be asked to operate a fire truck and march in future parades, a policy that was used in the 2008 parade.

Juror Helene Matthews told reporters she sympathized with the firefighters and was the only one to vote for Hewitt’s claim. “I felt they were wronged. They were put in a situation in which you or I on our jobs would not be put in,” she said.

“They suffered an injustice (in) the workplace. If I were in the exact same place, I would feel the same way,” said Matthews, who added, “they viewed things that were against their morals.”

Matthews said there were a number of other jurors who felt the opposite from her view, and “they were people who dug in from the get go.”

The judge asked jurors if more deliberations would help reach a verdict, but only Matthews told Anello she believed more discussions would end with a verdict on other claims.

“We will prevail with the next jury,” said attorney Charles LiMandri, who represented all four men in the three-week trial. “You cannot make someone participate and thereby endorse messages they may not agree with.”

Aguirre described the result as “a complete and total victory” for taxpayers, but LiMandri said the mistrial isn’t a victory. “He wanted a defense verdict and he didn’t get one,” LiMandri said.

Aguirre told the judge he will argue the case in the retrial, but LiMandri predicted “this means the next city attorney is going to have to deal with this issue.” Aguirre is in a tough re-election bid against Judge Jan Goldsmith on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Ghiotto was the only firefighter who spoke with reporters afterwards. “It was never about any money from the city. It’s too bad we had to go this far,” Ghiotto said. “It’s been stressful for all four of us.”

“For me, I feel it was a win because we stood up for what we believe in. It’s disappointing, but I feel we won because it was brought out in the open,” said Ghiotto. “We’re protected now because we brought this (up).”

When asked about reaction to the mistrial, Ghiotto said, “That’s the jury system; that’s the chance you take with a jury. That’s something that’s unpredictable.”

Ghiotto and the other firefighters alluded to the parade being against their beliefs, but they were never asked what their beliefs were or if it conflicted with any religious views. LiMandri is a self professed “born again” Christian who assisted the City Attorney’s office two years ago in its fight to save the Mt. Soledad cross, but LiMandri never asked his clients about religion.

Both Ghiotto and Kane testified they were not anti-gay.

“I have no problems with the gay lifestyle,” Kane said.

Jurors sent notes indicating they were deadlocked last week. All three alternate jurors were used to replace ailing jurors. On Monday, the last two alternates substituted for two jurors, one of whom went to a hospital. Anello told the jury they had to start deliberations over since they had new members. About five hours later, they reported they were still deadlocked, but had one verdict regarding Hewitt.

The retrial will be heard by another judge as Anello has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become a federal judge after being nominated by President Bush for a seat in U.S. District Court in San Diego.