Two Fort Lauderdale firefighters have been suspended for distributing penis-shaped candy in the firehouse, driving an ambulance to visit a pornography shop, lewdly poking at their colleagues' rear ends, and engaging in other inappropriate on-the-job behavior, city officials said Monday.
Three of their supervisors were punished with shorter, single-shift suspensions for failing in their oversight duties, said city spokesman David Hebert.
In a related matter, the city has forwarded allegations for review by the state attorney's office that a firefighter inappropriately touched a deceased patient in an ambulance, Hebert said.
A spokesman for the state attorney's office said Monday he could not confirm any investigation.
The city learned of the sexually charged behavior when employees in Station 35, at 1841 E. Commercial Blvd., complained late last year, said Bob Bates, director of the city's Office of Professional Standards.
''It was very clear that these people had endured quite a bit before they got to this point,'' he said of the firefighters who complained. ''They felt they had to go further.''
Firefighters Martha Massarelli, 32, and Ben Johnson, 26, were suspended for a total of 30 24-hour shifts, or roughly 3 ½ months of work, Bates said.
In addition to the inappropriate behavior, Bates said, the firefighters disregarded their superior officers, used an ambulance to drive beyond city limits to shop, and played rock music in an ambulance while a patient was being treated.
Massarelli and Johnson signed ''last chance'' agreements allowing the city to fire them if they misbehave again, he said, adding that their suspensions will last until mid-May.
SHIFT SUSPENSIONS
Battalion Chief John Molenda, Lt. Gregory Best and Lt. Timothy Habig received single-shift suspensions. Best is the only one yet to serve his.
After the alleged incidents involving Massarelli and Johnson came to light, the city flew in a fire chief from Phoenix and lawyers to give lectures on leadership and sexual harassment, city officials said.
All five suspensions were accepted voluntarily under a new early settlement program akin to plea bargaining, Hebert said. The firefighters were offered a lighter punishment than might otherwise have been imposed. They were left to accept it or risk something worse through the potentially lengthy disciplinary process outlined in their contract.
''The early settlement procedure is a way to resolve things early on,'' said City Manager George Gretsas, ''as opposed to the old way, where every little thing ended up in the court system.''
COUNSELING SLIPS
Two other firefighters, Sandra Demasio and Juana Carreras, received ''counseling slips'' for activity involving inappropriate e-mails, a matter still under investigation, Hebert said.
The early settlement program is voluntary, but union President Mike Salzano said Monday that in most cases he would recommend that union members stick to the disciplinary process outlined in their contract.
''That's very harsh,'' he said of the 30-shift suspensions. ''That's the most severe suspension I've ever seen.''
Bates said the process gave employees in trouble another option.
'It's the most logical thing you can do to sit down and say, 'OK, we both have a problem here. What can we do with this?' '' he said.
''It's being pragmatic and rational. It's the proper way to treat people.''
Distributed by the Associated Press
