Three supporters of a Rock Hill firefighter protesting a city nepotism ban urged City Council members to amend the policy at their meeting Monday night.
According to the rules, family members, including in-laws, are prohibited from working in the same department. But Rock Hill firefighter Matt Cooper argues that he shouldn't have to lose his job just because he's marrying the daughter of a fire captain.
After the wedding this Saturday, the fire captain will become Cooper's father-in-law -- too close to be working together, under the policy.
Because of the nature of their jobs, firefighters form close bonds with their co-workers, so it feels like they're related anyway, said Dominick Barbera, a vice president with the International Association of Fire Fighters who flew in from Florida to address the council.
"I look at firefighters as brothers and sisters," Barbera told them. "We just want to be treated fairly. We're talking freedom here: freedom of speech, freedom of choice."
The Greenville Fire Department, which has about 20 fewer members than Rock Hill, employs two pairs of brothers and two pairs of brothers-in-law -- and it's been possible to schedule them on separate shifts, said Mike Panighetti, president of the Greenville Uniformed Firefighters and Paramedics union.
Rock Hill resident Mackey Norman, 73, defended the policy, although he said he has nothing against Cooper and his fiancee.
"(Cooper) came down here knowing these rules were in place, then all of a sudden because he's in love with a young lady he wants to change those policies," he said.
In a written statement, City Manager Carey Smith noted that officials had spoken to Cooper about it since he started dating his fiancee and offered him several different jobs in other city departments.
City Council members did not comment on the public presentations.
Cooper did not speak before the council, but said afterward that he is fighting to keep his job because he feels so close to his co-workers.
Distributed by the Associated Press
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