Several firefighters here will be "severely reprimanded" in connection with the downloading of pornography onto the fire station's computer.
Five firefighters, including the chief and deputy chief, were accused by a female firefighter in a grievance with the Anti-Discrimination Division of the Utah Industrial Commission May 6.Mayor Brad Dee said the city will issue letters of reprimand to several firefighters for policy violations "and further actions may be forthcoming as we continue our investigation."
The Washington Terrace Police Department is investigating.
Dee made his comments after an executive session with the City Council Tuesday night.
Dee would not reveal which firefighters would be reprimanded. The letters had not yet been drafted.
The mayor said lewd or pornographic material is not allowed on Washington Terrace city computers.
"I'm not saying it has never come across the Internet onto a city computer," Dee said. "I don't condone what went on in the fire department, and I had no knowledge of it. Had I known about it, I would have come unglued."
In her charge of discrimination filed with the state earlier this month, Elizabeth Cook, 19, alleged that five Washington Terrace firefighters downloaded pornographic materials from the Internet in her presence.
She named Fire Chief Rob Herndon, Deputy Chief Brent Keyes, Capt. Harlow Pickett, Lt. Aaron Byington and firefighter Dave Hernandez.
Cook also alleged that Herndon's America Online "screen name" was used to e-mail child pornography out of the fire station. She said that because of that, the FBI is investigating the Washington Terrace Fire Department.
Several residents, including Cook's father, asked the City Council Tuesday night to suspend the five firefighters.
"The city of Washington Terrace needs to stand up and take responsibility for the actions of these firefighters," said Kenneth Cook. "Why is it they're still on the clock?"
After the mayor's reminder that pornography is protected by the First Amendment, City Council member Robert Tucker said that he wasn't ready to pull anyone off the job until harassment had been proven.
"Just because they pulled it up on the Internet doesn't say perverts were involved," Tucker said. "If it proves to be fact, yes, heads will start to roll. But you've got to give people the benefit of the doubt."
The City Council also plans to strike a provision in the city's sexual harassment policy that allows city employees to view pornography in the privacy of restrooms or locker rooms.