The council was set to vote on a settlement tied to a case introduced on by a former Houston firefighter who alleged sexual misconduct by her former colleague.
HOUSTON — As some Houston Metropolis Council members name for modifications to how the Houston Hearth Division handles and investigates misconduct, different leaders say the difficulty rests with the state legislature.
The council was set to vote on an $850,000 settlement tied to a case introduced on by a former Houston firefighter who alleged misconduct by considered one of her former colleagues.
In that case, a firefighter — Melinda Abbt — at HFD Station 18 alleged then-Junior Captain John Barrientes of misconduct for allegedly taking and distributing intimate movies belonging to Abbt.
The alleged incident occurred someday between 2007 and 2009 however Abbt didn’t be taught of the incident till 2017.
The difficulty prompted District J Councilmember Edward Pollard to name for town to renegotiate its contract with the firefighters’ union and add language to determine “a discovery-based timeline for investigating misconduct,” basically altering what’s referred to as the 180-day rule window from when the alleged incident occurred to when it was found.
Pollard despatched a letter final month to Houston Mayor John Whitmire and the Houston Skilled Firefighters Affiliation calling for the renegotiation of the contract.
Whitmire, town’s lawyer and representatives from the union mentioned the union’s contract defers to the state regulation on the difficulty.
Sources inside the HPFFA instructed KHOU 11 that nothing prevented former division management from terminating or disciplining Barrientes on this particular case.
Earlier division management demoted Barrientes, who additionally obtained a suspension and resigned from HFD on Nov. 26 of this yr.
HPFFA sources additionally mentioned the 180-day rule highlighted by Pollard and different council members was not related to this particular case.
“Let’s go forward and proper the improper,” Pollard mentioned throughout Wednesday’s assembly. “Why go ahead with a five-year contract that also has this provision that’s ruled by state regulation, we are able to put it in plain language and write it inside the contract.”
“The present contract adopted state regulation, it adopted the earlier metropolis contract language,” Whitmire mentioned. “Let’s permit this sufferer to have closure and commit ourselves to zero tolerance for sexual harassment.”
The merchandise to approve the settlement was tagged by the council, permitting the merchandise to come back up once more subsequent week for a vote and giving members extra time to assemble data on the subject.
