S.F. firehouse harassment alleged

Firefighters at Chinatown station accused of campaign of abuse against female co-worker; all to be transferred

Firefighters at a station in San Francisco’s Chinatown allegedly waged a six-month campaign of harassment against a female co-worker, urinating in her bed and taunting her with verbal abuse, officials said Tuesday.

The investigation prompted Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White to order the transfers of all officers from Station 2 at 1340 Powell St.

In a letter obtained by The Chronicle, Hayes-White wrote that “egregious harassing and retaliatory behavior” by firefighters at Station 2 created a “hostile work environment based on gender.”

Citing “deficiencies in leadership” that allowed the harassment to continue from January to July, Hayes-White wrote that all officers at Station 2 will be moved to new assignments in early October.

The chief declined to comment on the alleged harassment Tuesday. A spokesman for the department also declined to comment on the specific case, citing it as a personnel manner.

“We have taken swift and comprehensive actions to remedy any situation so that our workplaces are safe and welcoming for all,” said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, a department spokesman.

Linda Simon, deputy direc

tor of the San Francisco Department of Human Resources, the city agency that investigated the harassment, said her department found “sufficient evidence to substantiate these allegations.” She confirmed the pending reassignments of the firefighters involved, but declined to identify them or say how many participated in the harassment.

The probe uncovered a pattern of harassment at the station, including the claim of urination in the female firefighter’s bed at the station, Simon said.

“We conduct a thorough investigation. If we have a finding, then we take corrective action. And that’s what happened in this case,” Simon said. “Corrective action was taken.”

Firefighters at Station 2 who were found to be involved in the harassment were required to sign and return to the city a form acknowledging receipt of San Francisco’s antiharassment and antidiscrimination policies, Hayes-White wrote in her letter. A copy will be placed in their personnel files.

“This letter serves as your notice that the Department will not tolerate any future harassing, retaliatory or other discriminatory, harassing, or retaliatory behavior against any co-worker,” Hayes-White wrote. She added, “Moreover, you are to work collaboratively and professionally with the new leadership and perform your duties competently and conscientiously.”

Reached by phone, an employee of Station 2 declined to comment on the allegations. Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@ sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michael_bodley