UFA Fighting FDNY Limit On Representing Members When Not Suspects

When Not Suspects
UFA Fighting FDNY Limit On Representing Members


The Uniformed Firefighters Association cried foul last week after the Fire Department issued an order barring department members who are witnesses in an investigation from consulting with union reps or attorneys before speaking to chief officers.

STEVE CASSIDY: 'A direct threat to our members.'

The department's directive said only suspects in investigations had these rights and that employees who do not cooperate with investigations will face disciplinary action.

'No Right to Representation'

"It has come to our attention that in recent months members who have been asked questions by the Department's Safety Command either delayed answering or declined to answer Safety's questions," Deputy Fire Commissioner of Legal Affairs Daniel Shacknai said June 11 in a letter to UFA lawyers. "This may have occurred because these members - who were not suspects in the Safety investigation - erroneously believed they had a right to legal or union representation when being questioned by Safety officers, or because they were unaware of the contractual requirement to answer Safety's questions."

In a communiqué June 18 to members, UFA President Steve Cassidy called the directive "a direct threat to our members in clear retaliation for the UFA's insistence upon protecting your rights" and countered that the union had never impeded Safety Chiefs from investigating incidents.

"The order fails to point out, however, that the Firefighters merely wanted to make sure of their rights and wanted the security of union/legal representation so they didn't inappropriately become the target of any criticism or charges," he said.

Mr. Cassidy added that Firefighters who were witnesses in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office's ongoing investigation of last August's fatal fire at the Deutsche Bank building had sought union counsel after they learned that city attorneys would be representing them.

'Contradicting Themselves'

In a phone interview last week, the UFA president said that for the last six years the union has represented witnesses in safety interviews.

"They're definitely contradicting themselves," he said. "It's always been that way in the past. This clearly is about some friction that is building between the UFA and this department."

Mr. Cassidy speculated that the friction between the union and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta intensified in February when the union insisted that the department not conduct an interview with Firefighter Robert Grover - who had sustained serious burns during a fire in Queens - until the union gave clearance because he was still under the influence of heavy pain-killing medication. Firefighter Grover's unit had also been initially sent to the wrong address, leading it to arrive at the fire 16 minutes after it was dispatched. This prompted the union to blast a new Queens dispatch policy that has now gone citywide that was meant to get units out of their firehouses faster.

Uniformed Fire Officers Association President John J. McDonnell called the directive an "about-face" and said the union's attorneys interpreted the contract terms differently from the department.

FDNY: Nothing New Here

"The language in both union contracts (UFOA and UFA) is explicitly clear with regard to this issue," chief FDNY spokesman Francis X. Gribbon said in an e-mail. "The department order merely restated those provisions to avoid a recurrence of what's happened in a few isolated instances recently, where Safety Chiefs were unable to ascertain information from members in a timely manner."

But both unions vowed to fight the change, with Mr. Cassidy's spokesman saying Mr. Gribbon had not responded in his statement to any of the issues the union had raised.

"I'm not sure what is going to be the best forum to take this but rest assured we will do everything within our power to get this reversed," Mr. Cassidy said. "We're being treated as if we're criminals."