Local residents and a county commissioner questioned the St. Lucie County Fire District's decision to terminate multiple firefighters after an internal investigation into allegations of hazing involving videos of firefighters engaging in workplace activities.
The discussion was sparked at a recent Fire Board meeting, when Commissioner James Clasby, who also serves on the Fire District's board, shared his interpretation of the videos and encouraged the district to resolve the matter before it proceeds to arbitration.
"I'm told it was part of a studying exercise. When they got an answer wrong, they shocked themselves with a nine volt battery shocker," he said. "If you were to watch the videos, it is not hazing, in my professional opinion. And I think that the fire chief has a fiduciary responsibility to not take this to arbitration and come to a peaceful resolution prior to, to save the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, potentially, and the local, for that matter. There's lots of other issues that they need that money for, and this is not one of them. I would really ask the chief if he could do something to come to a peaceful resolution, and we just get past this."
Clasby also referenced the Fort Pierce Police Department's investigation into the allegations, reading portions of the responding officer's report during the meeting.
"No criminal matter behind the alleged hazing. In the videos I observed, I found co-workers entertaining each other. Although they chose unusual activities to engage in, they were ultimately done by their own will and had no malicious intent," he read. "All individuals originally listed as victims advised are not victims and wish not to continue the investigation."
During the discussion, Clasby asked Fire District attorney Kim Sabol whether the board had the authority to investigate the personnel decisions.
Sabol said the board does not have that authority and that its personnel oversight extends only to the fire chief, the district's attorney and the clerk-treasurer. Any action taken would be in violation of the charter.
The firefighters' union said it is challenging the disciplinary actions through the contractual grievance process.
"We were unsuccessful in the grievance process to move forward on those grievances, and we have all five are in the process right now as we speak of moving to arbitration," union representative Matt Coney said. "It's the union's position that these were wrongful terminations and wrongful disciplines, and we were moved forward to enforce the contract. This is extraordinarily a frivolous situation that does not need to be before you guys, or even on the fire chief's desk. It didn't need to be that far."
Several residents also addressed the board during public comment, including Joe Lowry, who asked district leadership to reconsider the terminations.
"We've all worked for different outfits. I worked for an outfit after coming out of the Marine Corps for 34 years. There was always some goofing off, and we always had some serious times," he said. "I think the board needs to look at this a little bit further, along with the chief, and try to reconsider about these three gentlemen that were fired."
In addition to the police investigation, the Fire District conducted its own internal investigation before the firefighters were terminated. The Fire District has not publicly released details of its internal investigation or commented on the reasons for the terminations during the discussion.