Union: 7 to be disciplined in Fire Dept. sex scandal

The Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General has recommended that seven Fire Department employees face discipline for their interactions with a female paramedic who filed a sexual harassment complaint against the department last year, union officials said Friday.

Among the seven are two battalion chiefs who were determined to have had inappropriate relationships with the woman, a subordinate, according to documents obtained by The Inquirer.

The chiefs were not named in the woman's initial complaint, but their involvement with her was revealed as the Inspector General's Office investigated her other claims.

A captain, a lieutenant, a fire service paramedic, and two firefighters were also recommended to face discipline, said Joe Schulle, president of Philadelphia Firefighters and Paramedics Union Local 22.

The woman named 13 department members - not including the battalion chiefs - in an employment discrimination complaint she filed with the department in May 2014.

The findings against the chiefs and the other Fire Department staff are the result of a wide-ranging investigation by the Inspector General's Office. The inquiry included interviews with more than 30 department personnel and a review of "all available documentary and electronic evidence" of the woman's allegations, according to a portion of the report obtained by The Inquirer.

The documents suggest a pattern of sexual conduct between a troubled woman and various members of the department, including, in some cases, her superiors.

The woman's lawyer could not be reached for comment Friday.

Mayor Nutter's spokesman, Mark McDonald, said the city would not comment on the report.

Schulle said at a news conference Friday that the city should release the full report to "ensure transparency and fairness." Union officials have seen only the portions of the report concerning the seven department workers who were recommended to face punishment, he said.

Of the seven for whom discipline was recommended, four were charged with failure to supervise, he said.

Three of the seven, including one of the battalion chiefs, face charges of unbecoming conduct due to "alleged consensual off-duty sex relationships with the complainant," Schulle said.

One department member was charged with having sex in a firehouse, Schulle said. He called that charge "inexplicable" because, he said, the inspector general was not able to substantiate any allegations of sex inside firehouses.

The remaining members were charged with sexual harassment "based on inappropriate behavior while at work, but not sexual interaction with the complainant," he said.

Schulle did not name any of those charged.

The documents obtained by The Inquirer, which deal specifically with the two battalion chiefs, do not recommend specific departmental charges, only that the chiefs be punished.

It is up to the department to determine their punishment, the documents say. The discipline could include demotions, firings, or suspensions.

According to the documents, one battalion chief, James Renninger, told investigators that he had a brief, off-duty sexual relationship with the woman and said she had "attempted to exploit their personal relationship and challenge his command authority."

The report said Renninger should be "credited for accepting responsibility for his error in judgment," but recommended "proportionate" disciplinary action.

Another battalion chief, Richard Bossert, was found to have advocated for the woman to return to field duty after a suicide attempt, the documents say. He helped reassign her to a medic unit, according to the documents, allowing "his personal romantic feelings for [the woman] to affect his professional judgment."

Bossert told investigators that his personnel decisions were supported by two members of the department, the documents say. Those members told the Inspector General's Office that wasn't true, according to the documents.

Bossert told investigators he never pursued the woman romantically and never had a physical or sexual relationship with her, according to the documents.

A source with knowledge of the woman's account said she has alleged that she was pressured into having sex with colleagues. The Inquirer is not identifying the woman because the newspaper does not name victims of sex crimes without their permission.

When the woman first complained, the Fire Department referred her to police, but she said she did not want to press criminal charges, according to the report.

At that point the Inspector General's Office took over.

Investigators concluded that "for the bulk of [the woman's] allegations, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether she was exposed to unwelcome sexual conduct," documents show. The woman gave a single statement to the Inspector General's Office in July 2014 and then stopped cooperating, according to documents.

But the investigators concluded that there was "no question" that the woman's time with the department was marked by "sexual advances" and "acts of a sexual nature," the documents show.

"It is also fairly clear that this sexual conduct interfered with her and others' work performance and likely created an 'offensive work environment,' " the documents say, addressing the woman's claims of sexual harassment. "However, the exact nature of the sexual conduct and the degree to which this conduct was 'unwelcome' remain in dispute."

According to the documents, the Inspector General's Office concluded that several members of the department engaged in conduct with the woman that did not meet the city's criteria of sexual harassment but was nonetheless inappropriate.