Late Winter 2009 Issue Number 107

Is a monthly electronic newsletter which links current events and issues to the daily challenges faced by fire and emergency services managers. Current topics in the areas of leadership development, workplace diversity, change management, and conflict resolution will be discussed.

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Consider This...

Managing Relationships on the Job

It was the same story, just a new location. Firefighters and officers had been fired, suspended and demoted because of allegations that they had consensual sex on the job. The female firefighter involved, the only woman on that particular department, had been fired. A 17 year veteran officer had also been terminated. Two others had been suspended or demoted.

When male and female firefighters engage in sex on duty, clearly there is a problem. Such behavior is unprofessional and inappropriate, and can result in poor job performance, among other bad outcomes. In the case mentioned above, the relationships came to light in part because of delayed responses to emergency calls.

Such incidents make most female firefighters cringe. The idea that women in the fire station would lead to out-of-control sexual activity was one of the dire outcomes predicted by those who opposed women in the fire service altogether. When such incidents make the news, those predictions are reinforced, and women as a group are discredited. There is also usually a call for disallowing all relationships between male and female firefighters. In fact, some departments have such sweeping policies in place.

Making the leap from disciplining men and women who behave inappropriately to sanctioning all firefighters who enter into relationships is a mistake. According to a survey several years ago by Women in the Fire Service, over 30% of all women firefighters were involved in long term relationships with other firefighters, most on the same department. The majority of these relationships began when people met on the job. Disallowing all relationships would disproportionately affect women firefighters and negatively affect many who cause no problems whatsoever because of their personal lives.

Once adults are finished with school, the workplace becomes one of the leading places to meet friends and relationship partners, in any field. It is not surprising that the same is true in the fire service. The problem is not that firefighters form relationships, but that every now and then firefighters behave badly in those relationships.

Of course there are dangers when co-workers have personal ties off the job. When a supervisor is involved with someone he or she directly supervises, obvious problems may occur. There may be accusations of favoritism, or even harassment in some cases. But the real problem is not that firefighters become close as a result of being on the job together-- this outcome has been happening for generations and is considered a positive aspect of the fire service. The problem is that a very few firefighters, men and women both, sometimes behave inappropriately and unprofessionally. When such behavior occurs, discipline, including dismissal, may be completely justified.

So the real issue is professionalism, and this issue is one that goes far beyond male-female relationships. Professionalism is a value that must be taught and demonstrated, from the top down. It is not fair to have zero tolerance for some forms of bad behavior and look the other way on more generally accepted acts. A standard of professionalism is something that must be developed organizationally, and consistently applied in all circumstances.

The fact that the woman in this case was accused of having sex on the job with three different officers during the same time period makes one question how well suited for the job this particular woman was, and how well the officers really understood their professional mandate for leadership. This department should probably look closely at its hiring and promotional processes. But such cases as this are exceptional, and should not provoke backlash against the vast majority of firefighters who manage their personal relationships with professionalism and ethical and appropriate behavior, both on and off the job.

Source: Independent Record, December 6, 2008

A Massachusetts firefighter has agreed to stop wearing a helmet he spray painted in red, white, and blue, after he faced possible suspension. The firefighter, an Iraq War veteran, had been wearing the painted helmet as an expression of his patriotism for more than three years. The mayor said that the order was not about patriotism or freedom of speech, but about the necessity for professional standards.

Source: Associated Press, December 19, 2008

The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

When Lily Ledbetter lost her appeal to the Supreme Court after years of pay discrimination (see Newsletter- June-July 2007), many were outraged and demanded that legislation be enacted to allow those in her situation to sue for damages. Ms. Ledbetter had worked for 20 years as the only woman production supervisor at the Goodyear tire plant in Gadsden, Alabama. At the end of her career, she became aware that she had been given smaller raises over the years versus her male counterparts. As she neared retirement, she was making 40% less than the next lowest paid male supervisor.

When Ms. Ledbetter sued for discrimination, her claim was disallowed because technically the statute of limitations for filing such a claim had passed. The EEOC allows discrimination claims only within 180 days of the violation. The only exception to this rule is when a clear and continuous pattern can be drawn between recent acts and longer term history.

Although the consistent history of pay discrimination was clear in Ms. Ledbetter's case, the Supreme Court ruled that pay raises are discrete acts, and therefore only those acts that fell within the 180 day limit could be considered.

The ruling was controversial and has now led to action in Congress to remedy what was considered an unfair situation by many. In January 2009, the House of Representatives passed legislation to assure equal pay for men and women in the workplace, and the legal right to challenge pay disparities beyond the 180 day limit mandated by the EEOC. A similar law was narrowly defeated last year. The Senate will consider the legislation in one of its first votes of the new session.

Source: The Associated Press, January 9, 2009

 

© Linda F. Willing, 2009