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St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Six Clearwater firefighters say the fire chief prohibited them from performing a critical part of their job based on gender.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
North Pinellas Times (Florida)
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The city’s fire chief now faces discrimination complaints stemming from a September decision that temporarily barred female firefighters from entering burning buildings.
And the complaints are coming from the very employees whom Chief Jamie Geer said he was trying to protect in the first place.
Six of the city’s nine female firefighters say Geer prohibited women from performing a critical part of their job based on gender, according to their complaint filed Wednesday with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
City officials say the ban was temporary, and only necessary after Geer learned some female firefighters were threatened by union colleagues that they may not be protected inside the burning structures.
The city’s top administrator, City Manager Bill Horne, stood behind Geer’s order Monday.
“Female firefighters were potentially in danger if they went to work,” Horne said. “We had no choice but to suspend their activity until we could justify the complaint.”
The ban was rescinded four days later without being enforced, because there were no building fires while women were on duty, city spokeswoman Joelle Castelli said. The alleged victims, meanwhile, refused to cooperate with an investigation.
Geer, the female firefighters and their attorney could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
In their complaint, the women said they were “humiliated and embarrassed” by Geer’s order.
“I have worked very hard to be one of the guys and make myself equal,” said Tammy Whitham, an eight-year Clearwater firefighter and paramedic. “What Chief Geer did was rob me of that respect.”
Geer ordered women away from burning buildings when he said some alleged they were threatened for considering leaving the union. The nature or extent of the threats were never revealed, nor were the victims, and the order was lifted four days later when the investigation stalled.
City Attorney Pam Akin believes the ban was lawful.
“It was a matter of safety,” said Akin, who said the order was an emergency measure. “It was not something that lasted very long. It’s not something we like to do.”
But union officials have questioned the timing of the order, which surrounded a union vote of no confidence in the chief.
The EEOC complaint includes a cover letter from the union’s lawyer and is notarized by one its executives, Dave Hogan. Union members could not be reached Monday.
In the past, the union has sought public records concerning the threat and the chief’s investigation. But city officials say no such records exist.
“The union has always tried very hard to figure out who talked to the chief and who shared this concern that female firefighters might be placed in harm’s way,” Horne said. “I don’t even know who talked to the chief. There’s been no actual document along these lines, so they’re postulating it never existed.
“They really want to know who may be talking to the chief,” Horne said. “They want to flush out the scab.”
The EEOC complaint is the latest in what has become a litany of grievances between the fire department’s rank-and-file and the city administration.
Just since October:
—Two paramedics, who were fired in May after refusing to respond to an early morning 911 call, filed an EEOC complaint saying they were singled out because they are black.
—Union officers accused Geer and Horne of threatening them in e-mails sent to the entire department, according to a complaint filed with the state’s Public Employees Relations Commission.
—And union officers filed a second PERC complaint, alleging more threatening e-mails from Geer and a lawyer representing another fire administrator.
* Aaron Sharockman can be reached at (727) 445-4160 or asharockman@sptimes.com.