The St. Lucie Fire District's governing board will seek outside legal advice on its disciplinary policies and procedures following the termination of three firefighters in an alleged hazing incident.
During a special meeting, board members discussed concerns about how disciplinary cases are handled, particularly when complaints involve senior fire officials, and the need for greater transparency in investigations.
Curtis Johnson, a fire board member, said the district's existing policies need closer examination to identify areas that may require changes.
"Look and evaluate our policies, procedures that we have. Obviously, there are some gaps that we're looking to try to understand and plug and address. Some of those concerns have been raised here on how we handle discipline, how it's handed out, particularly if it's involving command staff, etc. I think there were some parts of our process of hearing disciplinary cases that we definitely need to review as a fire board," he said.
The discussion follows the firing of Douglas Boudrais, Christopher Baldwin and Jordan Hutchinson after a third-party investigation from Allen, Norton, and Blue into an alleged hazing incident. A video circulated on social media showing recruit firefighters being shocked with a modified bug zapper.
The fire union has characterized the incident as mutual horseplay among peers, while the district has described the behavior as unprofessional and harmful.
Board members discussed establishing a mechanism for employees to report concerns about inconsistent discipline, retaliation and other issues, with complaints reviewed by an outside party rather than by the officials involved.
Jamie Fowler, a fire board member, said she wants employees to have a neutral way to raise concerns and have them evaluated independently.
"For me, the idea would be for them to get in, have some sort of mechanism where people can report any issues of inconsistencies in discipline, any retaliation, anything. Anything that they want to report, a neutral way to do that so that all of these things can be looked at and this firm can bring to us what they believe needs to occur as far as policies going forward," she said.
Travis Leonard, another board member, called for prompt action to address the lack of a formal process for handling such complaints.
"We need to make sure we act on this aggressively and quickly today, because as of right now, there are no policies and procedures in place. And the fact that they are doing their own investigations on themselves, we can't have that," he said.
At a previous meeting, the fire chief acknowledged that no process existed for handling these types of complaints and that one was needed.
Johnson said board members should have a way to observe the complaint and investigation process without taking on the role of investigators or making decisions in individual cases.
"We need to decide who's going to be a part of that process to sit in on that hearing and investigation. My interpretation is not for us as policymakers to be involved with it, but to be observant and a part of that to understand what is going on with that. Not that we have a vote in it, but a level of transparency that I can assure that one of my colleagues is at least in the room and understanding what's being said."
The board agreed to begin gathering information from law firms about reviewing its policies and developing a process for complaints involving contractual employees.
Shannon Martin, the fire board chair, outlined the proposed scope of the review and the next steps.
"The scope is to come up with a policy to address complaints against our contractual employees and also to give them the Jackson-Lewis report and have them opine on that. And Commissioner Fowler is going to engage Empath Law and Torsivia, Donlon, Goddeau and Rubin and get information with regard to cost and discuss the scope and then bring back the information and hopefully they can present to us at the October 7 workshop," she said.
The board also plans to provide the law firm conducting the policy review with the Jackson Lewis report, which examined the district's administrative practices. Board members are seeking information on the cost and scope of the proposed legal work before determining the next steps.
The dispute over the three firefighters' terminations remains ongoing. Both the union and the district have expressed interest in bringing the firefighters back as negotiations move toward arbitration.