A fire rescue captain accused of kissing recruit and harassment has resigned
A Monroe County Fire Rescue captain at the center of a sexual harassment investigation involving a training academy recruit has resigned before leaders could decide on firing him.
Christopher Cane, 38, said Tuesday in his letter to the Monroe Board of County Commissioners that he is stepping down “for personal reasons,” and the resignation was “effective immediately.”
Cane, who was hired by Monroe Fire Rescue in 2004 and earned an annual salary of $106,093 at the time of his resignation, did not respond to emailed and text requests for comment.
A female recruit at the Joe London Training Academy at Crawl Key vying for a spot on the fire department accused Cane of kissing her without her consent after she successfully completed an exercise in which she had trouble maneuvering in the past.
According to the complaint, as well as witness accounts from other recruits who say they saw the Dec. 6 incident, Cane removed the woman’s breathing gear, grabbed her face and kissed her.
Fire-rescue leaders did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
Cane is also accused of asking the woman on a date and other incidents leadership deemed harassment following an investigation, including asking her to “Lady and the Tramp” a piece of bacon — a reference to the Disney animated classic in which the two canine main characters eat from each end of a piece of pasta, culminating with a kiss.
According to the fire department’s Dec. 12 investigative report, Cane acted inappropriately with two other female recruits and let it be known he “is a member of the interview panel for employment with Monroe County Fire Rescue and that he is empowered to recommend recruits for employment.”
One woman interviewed by investigators said Cane once removed her boots while she had her feet up on a table and proceeded to give her an unwelcome foot massage. She said she was so uncomfortable that she texted a friend to help remove her from the situation.
The report contains a photo of the text that states, “Call me over pls.”
The fire department redacted the names of the three women when it made the report public last week.
When interviewed by investigators, Cane, who is married, acknowledged some of the incidents, including kissing the recruit and rubbing the other’s feet.
He told investigators the kiss was “an error in judgment,” and the foot massage happened because he became “too complacent,” according to the report.
Fire-rescue leaders, union representatives and Cane had a predetermination hearing last Friday to determine his employment following the investigation, but he stepped down before a decision was handed down.
It’s likely he would have been fired because investigators concluded that the kiss and Cane’s “subsequent advances and actions toward female recruits can constitute a form of quid pro quo sexual harassment. The incidents constitute unwanted and unwelcome sexual advances; verbal or physical conduct of a sexual or otherwise nature, with a suggestion that the acquiescence or submission to the advances would be rewarded with favors in the form of job offers from Monroe County.”