Lawyers interview Houston firefighters from flashpoint station

By Terri Langford in The Houston Chronicle
Houston firefighters at Station 54 have been called downtown today to be interviewed by a private law firm about why they don’t want a female firefighter to return to the firehouse after a racist and sexist graffiti incident that occurred last summer. City attorney Arturo Michel said the city is paying Haynes and Boone $20,000 to conduct a “fact-finding” effort to hear why some of the firefighters who confronted Jane Draycott on Jan. 13, told her they didn’t trust her or want her back.

“What they’re doing is really trying to find out what people believe and why in Station 54,” Michel said. “The reason is to try to improve the environment.

Michel said the interviews are not disciplinary.

Last summer, both Draycott and firefighter Paula Keyes left Station 54 after finding racist and sexist graffiti scrawled on the walls of their dorm after the two complained for months of harassment. Keyes is back at work at another station.

When Draycott tried to return on Jan. 13, a captain began reading a list of grievances about why he and others did not return to the station. Draycott said the members of the station also confronted her with “insulting” rumors about why they too did not want her to return and even questioned her sanity in front of several commanding officers, including then-Fire Chief Phil Boriskie.

Mayor Annise Parker called the confrontation a display of “poor judgment” on the part of Boriskie and members of the command staff who were present. A week later, Boriskie resigned as chief.

The law firm is only interviewing Station 54 firefighters who publicly aired an opinion last month about why they did not want Draycott to return, Michel said.

“The goal is to basically have a work environment at 54 where the firefighters can work together and trust one another and have Ms. Draycott return there if that is what she chooses sometime in the future,” Michel said.

“It was a recommendation I had to Mayor Parker and in response to want to get this matter resolved,” he said.