FAIRFAX, Va. (WUSA9) -- New accusations against the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, which is still reeling from the suicide of Nicole Mittendorf and allegations that she was harassed by fellow fighters on-line.
WUSA9 has obtained a lawsuit that alleges the department did not stop a fire captain from sexually harassing a female firefighter he supervised.
Despite the fire chief's pledge to investigate and root out sexual harassment, several female firefighters tell WUSA9's Peggy Fox that nothing has changed.
In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Magaly "Maggie" Hernandez claims that when she told her superiors about sexual harassment by her captain, she was reprimanded.
"She complained to her battalion chief, Cheri Zosh, and when Cheri Zosh attempted to take action, upper management stopped her from doing that," said Attorney Ellen Renaud, who is representing Herandez.
"He wanted to hug her, he made sexual innuendoes towards her, told her he'd like to see her in a bathing suit; he invaded her space," said Renaud.
She says the captain stalked Hernandez by using the software TeleStaff, "He wanted to know if she went to the bathroom."
Even after Hernandez was moved to another station, Renaud says the captain was obsessed with her and continued to stalk her.
"He admitted at a hearing that he looked on TeleStaff to find out where she was and then he recorded it in his own Outlook." During that hearing, 1,700 pages of this tracking information was produced, says Renaud. She says the captain was given a written reprimand.
"Stalking and everything he did warrants much more than a written reprimand because he's continuing to stalk her," said Renaud.
Hernandez claims her superiors formally reprimanded her by forcibly reassigning her to another station, which prevents promotion.
In the weeks since Nicole Mittendorf took her own life, several female firefighters have contacted Ellen Renaud, who won a 2011 sexual harassment lawsuit against the Fairfax Fire and Rescue Department. A federal jury ruled that the Department knew of and tolerated a male lieutenant's sexual harassment of firefighter Mary Getts Bland.
In that case, Lt. Timothy Young reportedly asked Bland when she was a recruit, "Do you enjoy having sex with more than one partner?" and "Do you like to be watched when you masturbate?" according to our editorial partners at the Washington Post. Young also asked Bland to visit adult sex-toy shops with him and made sexual innuendos. Bland claimed the department retaliated against her when she sought shift changes.
Before and after Mittendorf disappeared, people claiming to be firefighters posted horrible, sexist and defaming messages about her on the web forum Fairfax Underground alleging that she was having an affair with a superior.
After her body was found in the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia State Police revealed a suicide note had been left in her car. A VSP spokeswoman says there is no evidence on-line bullying played a part in Nicole's suicide.
But the only person who really knows is dead.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department Chief Richard Bowers says they are conducting an internal investigation into those on-line posts. So far, they found none of the posts came from county devices. Bowers also said in a statement that "there was no departmental knowledge of any bullying or harassment regarding Firefighter-Paramedic Mittendorff prior to her disappearance."
Renaud finds that hard to believe. "I've also talked to one firefighter who observed harassment of Nicole based on this alleged affair, in the fire department. Not just online, but in the firehouse. "
"If you want to root it out of the fire department, you need to have a true, no nonsense, zero tolerance, that no officer can engage in sexual harassment and continue as an officer." She said the firefighter who saw Mittendorff being harassed about that rumored affair has not been questioned by investigators.
Renaud says it's not important whether or not Mittendorff had an affair. The problem is any harassment she or others might have endured, or still endure.
Firefighters who spoke with WUSA9 were too fearful of being recorded. One retired female firefighter said harassment was so bad, she tried to kill herself.
