KALAMAZOO TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Kalamazoo Township released an independent report into a firefighter’s claims of workplace harassment and subsequent investigation, resulting in the termination of two fire chiefs.
The report is over 50 pages long, and the 19-year-old firefighter claims she was the target of racial harassment and assault while on the job from June 2019 through fall 2021.
The documents reveal she was inappropriately touched, hit across the face, and told to stop speaking Spanish by a colleague.
Fed up with the treatment, she took her concerns to the fire department’s battalion chief in December 2019. She was told to write up an incident report.
As part of township policy, the Battalion Chief investigated the allegations within 24 hours.
He then sent her and the accused his “memo of response,” stating his preliminary investigation determined that there were “low-level inappropriate interpersonal interactions” and that there were no instances of discrimination discovered.
His memo also stated that after speaking with the accused, he did not anticipate any future instance to take place. But if something happened again, she needed to tell them to stop and report it to the battalion chief or fire chief within 24 hours.
Both the incident report and memo should have been added to her file, but they were not.
In February 2022, the firefighter went to the Kalamazoo Township manager and a trustee about the “uncomfortable environment”.
She felt her concerns were not taken seriously before and she could not trust her Battalion Chief to help.
The township manager and trustee requested any written reports and communication, so they could put her statements in writing and later decided to conduct an investigation.
In March, investigators could not find the incident report and memo in her personnel file from December 2019. After tracking it down, they found the firefighter’s signature on it, but she did not remember signing it. That is why she didn’t report any further harassment after her initial complaint.
For two months, multiple people in the fire department were interviewed, and in July 2022, a predetermination hearing was held by township manager, Dexter Mitchell with former Battalion Chief Matthew Mulac and his attorney Codie Burt.
By September, both Battalion Chief Mulac and Fire Chief David Obreiter were fired.
Upon request, Obreiter’s attorney, David Kotwicki, shared a termination letter his client received from Mitchell. The letter read in part, “I have determined that your inaction was serious and or willful neglect of your duties as fire chief of the township.”
FOX 17 reached out the Kalamazoo Township manager, and he refused to comment saying this is a personnel issue and he plans to keep it that way.
Both former chiefs are pursuing legal action and hoping to be reinstated.
