Firefighter sues city, fire department over promotion
A lieutenant in the Butler Bureau of Fire is suing the city and the department, claiming he was improperly denied a promotion and suspended for reporting unspecified inappropriate behavior by a fire training instructor.
Lt. Donald Crawford and his wife Tammi, who live in Saxonburg, filed the civil suit Feb. 15 in Common Pleas Court, seeking a jury trial and a judgment in excess of $35,000.
“We’ll defend the lawsuit,” said Tom Breth, city solicitor. “Unfortunately, this is a matter of inappropriate behavior the city has been dealing with for some time now. This is just a furtherance of this behavior.”
The suit, filed by attorney Deanna Istik, claims that in 2019, Crawford took a written and oral test for a captain’s position and was notified that he was ranked first under fire civil service rules and regulations.
One other firefighter took the test and was ranked second, according to the suit.
In the fall that year, Crawford said he met with department Chief Chris Switala, who told him that the other firefighter was getting the promotion due to seniority, according to the suit.
In 2020, Crawford said, he asked Switala several times about why he was passed over for the promotion, but never got a substantive answer, according to the suit. He also claimed that he asked to meet with Switala and other city officials about the promotion process and other issues in the department, but no meetings were held.
In October 2021, Crawford said he received a letter from Breth saying Switala suspended him effective Oct. 22 and would recommend that city council terminate him at its Nov. 9 meeting. Council took no action regarding Crawford’s employment at that meeting.
The suspension notice came after Crawford said he received a letter of reprimand from Breth, a notice of charges and notification of a hearing in which he could respond to the charges.
The notice of charges alleges Crawford went to agencies outside of the department with old and unsubstantiated allegations against the captain, and that he disparaged and undermined the captain and the department. The captain retired in September 2021.
The suit claims the city and fire department violated the city’s personnel policies governing disciplinary action against employees, violated the fire civil service rules regarding promotions, and retaliated against Crawford for reporting allegations of inappropriate conduct to the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy.
