By Eric J.S. Townsend
News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
Copyright 2006 News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
All Rights Reserved
GREENSBORO - A rookie firefighter is suing the city after she was fired for her role in a graduation party fight.
Fallout from the claim continues in the Greensboro Fire Department. And the city’s defense against her accusations of gender discrimination, as outlined in court documents reviewed by the News & Record, indicates a second firefighter’s job may be in danger, as well.
What sparked the fight on June 27, 2004, in the Greensboro Firefighters Club parking lot depends on whom you ask.
But the results are clear: One fire captain was demoted, two male firefighters were docked pay and the lone female firefighter was dismissed.
The city is re investigating what happened that night. Attorneys for the city say a mistake might have been made in the internal probe into the fight and that a second firefighter should have been fired. That same employee received a pay raise this month.
A key witness told investigators one thing and the lawyers in the lawsuit another. And the city’s attorneys argued that because of the discrepancy, a mistake might have been made in handing out punishments - but that it wasn’t based on gender.
Fire Chief Johnny Teeters learned of the discrepancy in the summer after depositions were taken for the lawsuit, which was filed in September 2005. He ordered an investigation into the matter reopened.
The woman at the center of the lawsuit, Jacolyn Rancourt Jenks, and her attorney said neither she nor any of the other firefighters involved deserved to be fired.
“While everyone apologized for what happened that night and agree it should not have happened, no one should have been terminated,” said Jonathan Wall, who represents Jenks.
A trial date for the lawsuit has not yet been set.
The party was a tradition for recruit classes, with food in the afternoon and drinks at night.
Court filings show that the Sunday in 2004 was no different. Several firefighters who were about to graduate were joined by veterans.
After 9 p.m., many firefighters started drinking. The trouble started at midnight when Capt. Edwin Smithey, the class training officer, prepared to leave. He was unhappy that an ex-girlfriend, Rachel Kilby, was there with firefighter Christian Hicks.
The recruits didn’t want Smithey to leave, so they asked Hicks and Kilby to go.
Cory Hylton was one of several new graduates to approach Hicks outside. Tension between the two soon flared and firefighter Bridget Hampton tried to separate them.
Hylton took a swing at Hicks, but he struck Hampton instead, according to her deposition. She never filed a complaint and played down a jaw injury when questioned by investigators. Hylton told superiors he remembered swinging at Hicks but never connecting with anyone.
As Hylton and Hicks fought, Jenks came out of the club. She said she tried to calm the firefighters, but soon she and Kilby - the captain’s ex-girlfriend - began yelling at each other.
Jenks said she grabbed Kilby after Kilby grabbed at her. Kilby said she was punched in the face by Jenks.
Ultimately, Jenks’ admission that she touched Kilby would lead to her firing. It was enough for investigators to conclude that an assault occurred.
“I was the only one who told the truth,” Jenks said in an interview.
The fire department investigated the party the following week with the help of the Greensboro Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division. Four firefighters were punished. Jenks was the only one whose discipline said she may have broken the law. And she was the only one let go.
Hampton’s recollection of the punch in her deposition caught Teeters’ attention, according to records.
"(During the internal investigation ) she denied that Hylton was swinging at Hicks or trying to hit him,” Teeters said in an affidavit. “She said Hylton was only reaching around her.”
That’s not what Hampton later told attorneys in her deposition. And the city is resting much of its case in the matter on a possible “mistake” in the internal investigation that will “presumably” lead to Hylton being terminated, according to the city’s written argument in court.
“There is not a shred of evidence that the decision not to discharge Hylton was anything more than a mistake if a mistake was, in fact, made,” Martin Erwin, an attorney for the city, wrote in filings.
Teeters would not say whether the renewed investigation into what occurred that night is complete.
Jenks’ firing is in contrast to the discipline given a male firefighter accused of assault in an incident one month before the party. High Point police charged a Greensboro firefighter with striking his wife.
Though the criminal charge was eventually dismissed, the firefighter was reprimanded. He was not fired.
“Things are different. It’s different,” Teeters said of the variations in discipline.
“I feel good about what we’ve done - and I feel we’ve done the right thing,” the chief said. “I wouldn’t let anyone be treated inappropriately, whether they’re white, black, male or female.”