Amid the flap in the Westbrook Fire Department, where seven firefighters were disciplined in the wake of accusations about sexual harassment, an eighth firefighter was suspended for an unrelated incident.
Call Capt. Gene Dunn was suspended for 60 days without pay on Dec. 12 for his aggressive behavior at an officers’ meeting.
According to Dunn, a part-time employee, the suspension was too harsh, considering the two-week suspensions that most of the firefighters involved in the sexual harassment investigation received.
Police Chief Bill Baker, who was acting fire chief when he suspended Dunn, said Dunn’s punishment for his behavior – which he reduced to a 30-day suspension after a formal hearing with him – was fair.
Baker said he wasn’t involved in deciding how to punish the seven firefighters who were recently disciplined by the city. The mayor handed out those punishments.
According to Baker, at a Dec. 11 meeting, Dunn became aggressive to the point where others there were uncomfortable.
“I’m confident he got punished appropriately,” said Baker, who was at the meeting and pulled Dunn aside after.
Dunn admits to becoming argumentative and pointing his finger at another firefighter, but, he said, as a 24-year veteran, “that’s the way” things go at officers’ meetings, where members of the department air their grievances once a month. Still, Dunn said, he apologized after.
Dunn said the argument was about the finances of Engine 2 and had nothing to do with the sexual harassment complaints.
After being suspended the day after the meeting, Dunn said, he took a vacation. When he returned and learned of the punishments doled out to others in the department following a months-long investigation, he felt he had been treated unfairly.
The same week as Dunn’s suspension, a lieutenant in the department was demoted and suspended for one week, a firefighter was suspended for 60 days, four firefighters were suspended for two weeks and one was given a letter of reprimand. Those punishments were related to the investigation into sexual harassment claims.
“The scale of justice in the city of Westbrook just doesn’t seem right,” Dunn said.
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