A captain in the Hawaii County Fire Department is under investigation by the chief for criticizing the department in public.
A captain in the Hawaii County Fire Department is under investigation by the chief for criticizing the department in public.
Fire Chief Darren Rosario sent a letter Wednesday to Capt. Sean Sommers, telling him he was being investigated on administrative charges that he violated the department’s rules when he criticized the department and fire chief in a March 19 interview on Hawaii News Now.
Sommers, a 21-year veteran of the department, is assigned to the South Kohala Fire Station.
Among the rules Sommers allegedly violated, Rosario said in the letter that was obtained by West Hawaii Today, is a regulation stating, “no member shall publicly criticize or ridicule the department, its policies or the members … when such action tends to impair the good order or efficiency of the department, interferes with the ability of officers to maintain discipline or it’s made with reckless disregard for truth or falsity.”
“It is alleged that you have violated the aforementioned rules and regulations of the Hawaii Fire Department with your televised media interview which aired statewide on Thursday, March 19, 2015,” the chief said.
Employees agree to follow the rules as a condition of employment.
The letter went on to admonish Sommers “do not discuss this matter with anyone as it is confidential; any discussion about the aforementioned will be viewed as interfering with the administrative investigation.”
A message left Monday at Rosario’s office was not returned by press time. A call to the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, the union representing Sommers, was routed to a spokesman who didn’t return a call by press time.
Sommers had been interviewed on Hawaii News Now about the suspension of two West Hawaii battalion chiefs.
“This is exactly the reason you don’t hear from other personnel in the fire department,” Sommers told West Hawaii Today on Monday. “They fear retribution, and I don’t blame them. … I truly am risking everything right now.”
Honolulu attorney Jeff Portnoy, who specializes in First Amendment issues, said he can’t comment on the individual case, but in general, he thinks the rules go too far.
“Government employees do not lose their First Amendment rights to speak out about what they believe is wrongdoing they believe is not being appropriately handled by those in authority,” Portnoy said. “To me, these Hawaii Fire Department rules go way too far in trying to stifle appropriate criticism, and at least on the surface, are too general and appear to attempt to keep any criticism of the department from public scrutiny.”
Battalion Chiefs Steve Loyola and Ty Medeiros were suspended in November. Loyola told Hawaii News Now they were suspended for criticizing how Rosario was running the department. Rosario, a 25-year veteran of the department, has been fire chief since September 2011.
Attempts to reach Loyola and Medeiros have been unsuccessful. But Loyola, a 24-year employee of the department, told Hawaii News Now that morale is at an all-time low, and 25 people have quit the department during the past three years.