San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
COMPLAINTS
their investigative units the way arson was run for the last 20 years, it would be the laughing stock of the country,” one deputy chief said, a recording of the conversation indicates.
They also acknowledged bureau’s machismo culture.
“Since Day 1, it’s been a hot bed,” the other added. “There were all men back then. Same issues. Exact same issues.”
Earlier this year, Natalie Rougeux, an attorney hired by the city to investigate Long’s allegations, corroborated several of her claims.
Assistant City Manager María Villagómez, who oversees the Fire and Police departments, directed Fire Chief CharlesHood inApril to make several changes and do so in 30 days.
Among the directives: All department employees were required to review city policies on discrimination and harassment, and command staff had to undergo training with the Human Resources Department to “address professional expectations.”
Two months ago, at Villagómez’s direction, Hood suspended Berry for 15 days for the comments he made to Long, who is a lesbian, in August 2018.
Berry also was disciplined for other comments a month later about “fat chicks” and “a damn lesbian softball team.”
Berry, who oversees the Arson Bureau and Southwest Texas Fusion Center, a collaboration of local agencies that gather and share intelligence, used vacation time to fulfill the suspension.
He apologized to Hood but did not admit the comments were inappropriate, according to notes from the meeting. He said it had been a difficult adjustment moving from the field to a desk job.
“Berry knows now that bonding in the field is very different in the field verses (sic) the Arson office,” Estrada wrote afterward. “He recognized that he went about managing the office the wrong way initially.”
Hood also sent a letter to Capt. Raul Lopez, who oversees the bureau’s day-to-day operations, disciplining him for telling a lieutenant that Longwasn’t capable of investigating the scene of a fire alone because she is a woman, records state.
The issues in the Arson Bureau come as officials try to recruit more women to the department through mentoring programs, marketing campaigns and recruitment events including Hero Like Her, an initiative directed at young women.
From 2015 to this year, the number of female firefighters has increased by 15 and male firefighters by 79, city data shows.
the
The department remains overwhelmingly male. At last count, 89 of the 1,757 firefighters — or 5.1 percent — were women, compared to 4.5 percent five years earlier. An additional 50 women hold nonuniform jobs, city data shows.
In October, Hood faced scrutiny after posing for a photo next to a mostly nude woman partly covered in sushi at a firefighter’s birthday party.
The use of a nude female as a platter for sushi— called “body sushi” or “naked sushi” — is part of the Japanese practice of nyotaimori, which in recent years has been criticized for objectifying and degrading women.
While Hood apologized to anyone offended by the photograph, he defended his decision to pose, saying it was like taking a picture with a flamenco dancer in Las Vegas or a Spurs dancer at Top Golf, apopular driving range and entertainment venue.
Shortly after the Express-News published the photo, City Manager Erik Walsh directed City Attorney Andy Segovia to conduct an independent review of the incident.
Walsh since.
City officials have said they take allegations of harassment “very seriously” and that the city regularly makes policy changes to prevent discrimination and harassment.
They declined interview requests for this report, citing the ongoing EEOC investigation.
In answer to questions fromthe Express-News, city officials outlined a number of initiatives that aim to recruitwomenand address any complaints of gender discrimination and harassment.
Jeff Coyle, director of government and public affairs, said the city recently launched an “SAFD Inclusion Initiative” that aims to create a workplace culture that is welcoming and nurturing.
Employees were given access to videos on gender discrimination and to feedback surveys.
Tom Caldwell, an attorney representing Long and the two other Fire Department employees who have filed EEOC complaints, said the city needs to do more. He said Berry’s and Lopez’s discipline wasn’t enough.
“Not less than five months ago, the city fired a firefighter for an off-duty social media post they described as racist,” Caldwell said, referring to a Facebook post about Black Lives Matter demonstrators. (Caldwell is representing the firefighter in appealing the firing.)
“What
has
not
Berry
commented
said
was
sexist and misogynistic. Itwas anti-gay,” Caldwell said. “And those were comments he made at work, in front of employees, whilewearing his official uniform.”
In the end, Long requested a transfer from the Arson Bureau to another unit. So did another female employee who recently had joined the bureau.
Now, the Arson Bureau has no female employees.
Issues crop up
Long was hired by the Fire Department in June 2008, when she was 22, after having received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
After seven years as a paramedic, she applied to the Arson Bureau, where investigators are required to be certified as both firefighters and police officers.
Long, in a conversation with Meade and Estrada, said she enjoyed her first year in the bureau, which at the timewas managed by Capt. Jose Rios.
The unit then had 17 employees: the captain, two lieutenants and 14 investigators. Only one besides Long was female.
Long acknowledged therewere issues, including complaints by her and others about being moved from case to case, making it difficult to followleads and fully investigate, Caldwell said.
In 2017, Lopez was transferred to the Arson Bureau, replacing Rios, and Long began noticing a change in the way she was treated, records state. About that same time, she said, several employees with years of experience began to leave the bureau.
According to Long, Lopez would shake hands with other investigators but not her. When he had a question, he would ask someone with less experience than her. He oftenwould greet everyone in the morning — except Long.
In 2018, Berry made the comments about her friend’s breasts. A month later, he made the comments about “fat chicks” and the “damn lesbian softball team.”
Other employees, including an arson investigator named Travis Haecker, heard the remarks.
For Long, the issues came to a head in March 2019 after she learned she was being singled out by Lopez because shewas female, record state.
Lt. Bryan Lear, Long’s direct supervisor, had decided Long, who had three years of experience, could go without a partner if an investigator was sick or injured.
Lear, in a statement to the EEOC, said Lopez didn’t agree.
“I was told by Lopez that Long could not be a lone investigator because she is a woman and may not be able to handle herself,” Lear wrote. “I was directed to assign Haecker as Long’s partner because he is a larger male.”
According to Long, Lopez also passed over her when choosing investigators to serve as training officers for new employees.
That happened even after Long approached Lopez directly to discuss her interest in becoming a trainer.
Instead, Long said, the position was offered to a male investigator who said he didn’t want it.
Addressing problems
A few months later, Long learned about a training opportunity for officerswho provide security forHood and Police ChiefWilliam McManus during major events.
Long, who once had provided security for Hood during aMartin Luther King Jr. March, asked Berry if she could take part.
“Don’t count on it,” Long recalled Berry saying.
A week later, Long again asked Berry if she could try out. This time, he said no, records state.
Upset by his response, Long sent him a text: “This is another example of me being held down in an attempt to further my career,” she wrote.
Later, when the pair met in person, Berry asked why Long felt like she was being held down, audio recordings indicate. Long described a multitude of issues, including Lopez’s comments.
Berry seemed concerned. He acknowledged Lopez was hard to approach, and that Lopez needed to better communicate expectations to his subordinates.
But in the end, he suggested Long work hard.
“You just have to continue to produce,” Berry said. “Don’t cut corners. Show up on time. Don’t leave until it’s your time. Make sure you’re doing what you ask of the group.”
“I do all those things,” Long replied. “That’s why I’m like, what does he see? What else am I not doing?”
A few days later, Berry proposed a solution: Long could be a training officer for Jesse Moncada, a new investigator in the unit.
Long, in a statement to the city, said the suggestion made her angry and embarrassed. She told Berry that Moncada already had been trained and no longer needed a training officer.
“Captain Lopez was not asked to talk tomeor apologize but rather they tried to slap a Band Aid on the problem by making me a ‘FTO’ for someone who is already
trained,” Longwrote. “I told them this was a slap in the face.”
About that time, Lear and Long — along with another employee in the Arson Bureau, Daniel Gibson — reportedBerry’s behavior to the Office of Municipal Integrity, a city department that investigates allegations of employee misconduct.
The three complained about Berry’s comments about women and lesbians. They also described how Berry allegedly had dry humped Gibson one day while Gibson was bent over.
On Nov. 1, 2019, Longwas called into Estrada’s and Meade’s office to discuss her claims.
While there, Long expressed concern for Lear. A fewdays earlier, records indicate, officials launched an investigation into Lear after they said he lied about leaving the office early.
Lear, who had left the office to seek advice from another chief, said he regretted being dishonest but did so because he was afraid of retaliation.
Long accused the two deputy chiefs of trying to sweep her claims under the rug by ruining Lear’s credibility.
“That’s no coincidence to me,” Long said.
Estrada and Meade assured Long her claims were being taken seriously.
That is when they acknowledged some criminal arson cases hadn’t been investigated properly.
An internal review earlier that year of about 4,000 arson reports filed from 2011 to 2018 found 199 reports — or 5 percent — hadn’t been “properly completed,” the city said.
After the review, 161 reports were re-evaluated and closed, the city said. Thirty-eight remain open today.
Meade and Estrada told Long that changes needed to be made.
“I think there are some policies that need to be written and there are some policies that need to be reviewed,” one of the deputy chiefs said. “Moving forward, we’re going to have a group put together … to look at these things.”
The SAFD remains overwhelmingly male. At last count, 89 of the 1,757
firefighters — or 5.1 percent — were women.
Retaliation allegations
Long formally filed her complaint with the city six days later, on Nov. 7, 2019, prompting the review by the attorney hired by city officials.
Rougeux, the attorney, interviewed about 25 Fire Department employees, officials said.
In the end, she corroborated several aspects of Long’s allegations, including Berry’s and Lopez’s comments about women. She also confirmed Long wasn’t asked to be a training officer, records state.
Two others — that Longwas denied training opportunities and retaliated against for making a