Racism Allegations: Demoted Firefighter's Case Appears Headed to Arbitration

The case of an East Lake Rescue firefighter who was demoted from lieutenant to driver-engineer appears to be headed to arbitration, which could cost taxpayers up to $10,000.

At Monday evening's special meeting of the East Lake Fire Commission, board members were fearing a costly arbitration and initially appeared ready to reinstate Bill Figueredo to lieutenant and give him back pay for the time period in which he was demoted. 

Figueredo is accused of performing a Nazi salute to East Lake Fire Commission Chairman Mark Weinkrantz. Weinkrantz, who did not attend Monday's meeting, had emailed East Lake Fire Chief Tom Jamison about the alleged Dec. 19, 2012, incident referring to it as "harassment." 

Jamison ordered an investigation and 32 firefighters were surveyed. According to documents obtained by Patch, no firefighters witnessed the alleged Nazi salute. In a separate survey about possible violations of standard operating procedures, one of the 32 firefighters reported witnessing Figueredo acting in a harassing or discriminatory manner. 

Figueredo was not found guilty of harassment or discrimination, but he was demoted for other reasons that Jamison explained in this Patch article.

During Monday evening's meeting, Jamison spoke about how staff at the station will undergo extensive training to prevent future problems. "We are working hard to make certain that nothing like this occurs again," he said.

Figueredo also spoke before the board and publicly criticized Jamison.

"The sad truth of this whole thing, it's not just about me. Not only the chief of whom I followed and respected as a leader of this organization, defamed my name, integrity and character, he also demeaned the integrity and character of 32 of my fellow firefighters, for simply doing their duty by honestly answering whether or not they had seen me engaging in inappropriate activity on or off the job," said Figueredo.

The demoted firefighter's resentment toward his supervisor prompted Commissioner Paul Ferreri to change his mind about reinstating Figueredo. He suggested to fellow commissioners that the motion to avoid arbitration and reinstate Figueredo to lieutenant be withdrawn.

"The reason that I changed my vote, I got the sense that this thing isn't going to be over with," said Ferreri.

"Mr. Figueredo was in uniform here tonight and I didn't appreciate one or two of his comments he spoke about the chief. I think it was uncalled for. In my mind then, that raises the question of whether or not this thing actually could have been put to rest and I think we still need to wait and see," Ferreri later told Patch.

Commissioners voted on whether they should avoid arbitration by reinstating Figueredo to lieutenant. Commissioners Tom Mckone and Flo Galloway were for it and commissioners David Root and Ferreri were against it. There was not a majority vote, which meant the tied motion failed and arbitration will move forward. Chairman Mark Weinkrantz was out of town and unable to attend the meeting, which was scheduled on short notice. He later told Patch he would have recused himself from voting, if he had attended.

Patch spoke with Figueredo shortly after the meeting adjourned. "I'm not really sure how to feel after what I just heard. I'm shocked," he said.

"I'm shocked at everything that's gone on for the last four months. My family and I have been traumatized about the whole thing. I had the statement, it sounded like the board was going to do the right thing... I just don't know what to say or how to react," he said.

What do you think should be done? Let us know in the comments section below.

Related-

• East Lake Fire Rescue Racism Allegations on Special Meeting Agenda
• Racism Allegations: East Lake Fire Chief Wants Independent Investigation 

Subscribe to the East Lake Patch newsletter to have local news delivered to your email each day.Sign up here.