Stamford's Lone Female Firefighter Files Complaint

By Natasha Lee
Staff Writer

January 29 2007

STAMFORD -- Stamford's only female firefighter filed a grievance with the city and fire chief after a volunteer assistant chief allegedly tried to remove her from the Springdale firehouse.

The firefighters' union filed the grievance on behalf of Michele McEwen in the Jan. 5 incident, in which Assistant Chief Brant Kelley reportedly told a Stamford Fire & Rescue captain that McEwen was not allowed in the firehouse at the order of the Springdale Fire Co. chief. The grievance was filed Jan. 18.

Springdale Fire Co., a private, nonprofit agency, has a joint operating agreement with the city that allows for 16 paid Stamford Fire & Rescue firefighters to staff the firehouse in addition to its 30 volunteers. Under the 1997 agreement with Springdale, the city funds the department and the Springdale volunteer chief controls the firehouse and volunteers. The Stamford chief retains control over the paid firefighters.

In a copy of the grievance obtained by The Advocate, the union said McEwen was part of a crew sent to Springdale to cover for a Stamford Fire & Rescue engine out on a call. When the crew arrived, Kelley told Stamford Capt. Shaun Tripodi that Springdale Fire Chief Shawn Fahan had instructed him that McEwen was not allowed in the station.

McEwen, an eight-year veteran, is the only female among more than 230 firefighters in the city. The first and last time the city hired woman firefighters was in 1999, when McEwen and Margaret Sammarone joined the department. Sammarone quit in 2002.

Judith Mauzaka, an attorney representing Springdale Fire Co., said she was unaware of a complaint and had not received any documentation except an e-mail from the city's legal affairs department stating an incident had occurred.

Fahan said he has not seen a full copy of the complaint but said allegations of harassment are investigated.

"The Springdale Fire Company takes any harassment complaints very seriously. We look into it with whatever evidence is given to us and we do our best to follow through," he said.

Fahan said he plans to have volunteer firefighters participate in sexual harassment training in the next couple of months.

The grievance marks the third time McEwen complained of harassment by Springdale volunteers. In 2003, she filed a complaint after Fahan allegedly referred to her as "the girl," and one last March in which a volunteer firefighter reportedly made sexually suggestive gestures toward her while on duty at the St. Patrick's Day parade.

Fahan said the fire company investigated both complaints.

The first was addressed under a verbal understanding with Fahan and former director of human resources Bill Stover that, given McEwen's complaint, she would not be sent to Springdale, Mauzaka said.

Fahan said he investigated the 2006 parade complaint and reported his findings to the company's board of directors and service board members. He found no volunteer firefighters who witnessed the incident, Fahan said.

"We took the complaint at its word and the matter was dealt with internally," Mauzaka said.

The city also investigated the complaints and suggested volunteers participate in sexual harassment and sensitivity training, said Dennis Murphy, director of human resources.

In the grievance, the union says McEwen was targeted by Springdale because of her previous complaints and that the city has failed to resolve them. The union is asking the city to investigate all three complaints and take disciplinary action, and that Springdale firefighters participate in sexual harassment and sensitivity training.

"Anybody that works for the city of Stamford or represents themselves in a career or volunteer capacity should be held in the same standard," said Brendan Keatley, president of the Stamford Professional Firefighters Association, Local 786.

The city has had difficulty attracting women and minorities to the fire department. In a 2005 hiring test, 24 of the 728 who applied were women. One woman passed the written and physical exams needed to make it to the hiring list.

At a Board of Fire Commissioners meeting Tuesday night, Stamford Fire & Rescue Chief Robert McGrath told commissioners Kelley should be removed from the Springdale department and supported the union's request for training. McGrath handed out copies of the grievance and supporting documents.

"No one should be subject to that kind of discrimination. I stand very strong against that," he said.

Mauzaka said the grievance is a misunderstanding. In a letter to the city's legal affairs department and public safety director, William Callion, Mauzaka said, "based upon firefighter McEwen's statement in her complaint that she did not feel comfortable at Springdale, that she would not be sent to Springdale." The verbal agreement was renewed in early 2006 between Fahan and Stamford Deputy Chief Robert Lehn, the letter said.

Keatley said the verbal understanding was bogus.

"We would never agree to a verbal agreement to keep any of our members excluded from a work location," he said.

The grievance illustrates long-standing tensions between the two departments about who has authority over the volunteer company. Each organization's contract grants the power to the presiding chief and, in the case of Stamford Fire & Rescue, also its fire commission.

"It's very hard to get a lot accomplished when you have three different views, three different opinions and three different ways of handling it," Fahan said of Springdale, Stamford Fire & Rescue and the city.

Murphy said the agreement makes it difficult for the city to impose action.

"We aggressively investigate these complaints, but since it was not a city employee who conducted the alleged improper conduct, it's difficult for us to fashion an appropriate remedy," Murphy said.

He said he is reviewing the grievance with city attorney Thomas Cassone.

"From the city's perspective, we're trying to get Springdale Fire Company to address the issue and take responsibility for this," Cassone said.

Keatley said it was time for the city to defend its firefighters.

"The way we view it, these folks are working as agents for the city and they should be treated as such," he said. "The city has some type of relationship with Springdale but claim they are unwilling to enforce rules of people that they fund?"