BATON ROUGE, La. — A firefighter accused of using a firehouse to produce part of a racy film was reinstated Thursday with full back pay and seniority.
The Advocate reported that Dewey Allen, a 10-year veteran, was fired this summer after officials found he violated department policy by shooting a scene of “Mississippi Shakedown” inside a fire station.
However, he was reinstated because the department ran afoul of state guidelines for firefighters and police officers under investigation for misconduct.
Firefighter Allen’s attorney said the film fell short of being pornographic and claimed his firing violated his First Amendment rights.
The film was produced in 2011, but did not come to Chief Ed Smith’s attention until April of this year.
In a termination letter issued July 31, Chief Smith said firefighter Allen initially acknowledged filming portions of the movie inside the fire station and using department equipment in its production, according to the report.
Firefighter Allen claimed to have received permission from an unnamed superior officer, according to the letter.
An appeal hearing had been scheduled for Thursday, but was cancelled after fire officials failed to notify firefighter Allen of an earlier request they made to the Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board to extend the internal investigation 60 days, according to the report.
The extensions are usually granted, but the officer or firefighter must be given 10 days notice under state civil service law, according to the report.
“If the fire and police officers’ bill of rights is not followed, any action that occurs is null and void,” said Charles Cusimano, the board’s attorney.