These firefighters ought to get burned

Why do those jackasses in the Richmond Fire & Rescue still have jobs?

Just south of Vancouver proper, firefighters in the suburb of Richmond have been accused of the worst sort of misoginistic acts, perpetrated on their own female colleagues. Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham has covered the issue well in her regular column - sadly, those comments are unavailable online without subscribing electronically to the Province/Sun site... which I don't feel like doing this evening.

Some highlights from a Canadian Press article on Wednesday include:

1. ...the city and the firefighters' union organized an anti-harassment training seminar. "During the training, I particularly heard male firefighters openly say women were only good for one thing (and) 'women don't belong here.' "

2. ...Moznik's lawsuit claimed, among other things, that she and another woman were sent into a fire and their co-workers refused to turn on the water, and that human feces were put into her boots and obscenities were printed on the front of her locker.

While allegations have so far not been proven in court, the circumstantial evidence of all of seven of the female employees either quitting or taking leave at the same time (except for one, who committed suicide) is pretty damning. And the city-mandated review of harrassment policies and other issues and newly-instituted "sensitivity training" for the whole department would seem to be a tacit admission that the accusations have merit.

Interestingly, one woman who has returned to work - not as a frontline firefighter, but as a PR representative - was allowed to do so only on condition of not publicly discussing her own ongoing harassment case. Just another example of coverup?

Fire Chief Jim Hancock's lame, minimal response to the scandal is recorded here.

There is not a single workplace in Canada - or for that matter, in any country that has lawyers - where this sort of behavior would be tolerated... or where the guilty parties could expect to keep their jobs.

Some people do deserve second chances... but I suspect these jerks used up all their chances to rejoin the human race a long time ago.

Fire the jerks. Now.

tags: Richmond Firefighters, coverup, scandal, sexual harassment, workplace harassment, bullying