The City of Tybee Island is investigating allegations against recently resigned Fire Chief Matthew Harrell, who firefighters and lifeguards say created a hostile work environment.
Harrell resigned June 16, a month after being put on paid administrative leave while city officials reviewed complaints made by at least eight employees who reported to Harrell. The grievances detailed instances marked by sexual harassment, verbal abuse and bullying from Harrell.
Harrell's attorney, Keri Martin, said Harrell "was not told why, was not told what the accusations were and not told who the accuser was" when the city put him on leave. Harrell later learned the details of the complaints, as evidenced by his resignation letter, which reads "Recently I came under three rounds of false accusation attacks, these attacks were against my character and leadership."
The former chief again repudiated his accusers' claims in a recent email communication with the Savannah Morning News.
"I deny all the allegations; it is simply untrue. Unfortunately, it has harmed my family and me professionally to go through this," Harrell wrote.
Three different accounts from former lifeguards and firefighters detailing Harrell's behavior were part of a slate of complaints sent to city officials in April, according to complainants.
The three reports could not be obtained through an open records request due to the ongoing nature of the investigation but surfaced on the Facebook page "We ARE Tybee" on June 9, 10 and 14. They can also be found on a separate website, onetybee.com. The two sites have no affiliation with each other, according to Renee Mason, owner behind "We ARE Tybee."
One former and one current employee of the Tybee Island Fire Department (TIFD) spoke to the Savannah Morning News about their interactions with Harrell. Both spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from former colleagues and friends of Harrell.
Both detailed incidents cited in the complaints posted online as well as others sent to the city's human resources department.
A former Tybee firefighter described the former chief's overbearing leadership style and his frequent tendency to make sexual comments in the workplace.
A female firefighter still employed by the city alleges Harrell often made sexually inappropriate comments about his coworkers and that Harrell interacted inappropriately with female firefighters and lifeguards during training session demonstrations.
One incident is detailed in a complaint filed on "We ARE Tybee" and involves life-saving techniques.
The account describes the incident as follows:
"Matt stood behind (name redacted) explaining how to save a victim in the water and what hand positions to use while standing on the side of the pool. During his demonstration he also said 'This is how not to save someone' and he grabbed (name redacted's) breast with both hands very inappropriately while he was standing behind her.
"I asked her later if she was ok and she replied 'No'."
Another account describes Harrell commenting on a female lifeguard outside of work:
"… I was surfing on North Beach which is a spot Matt frequents on his days off so I subsequently ran into him. I was wearing a two-piece black bikini which was more revealing than my lifeguarding bathing suit that he was used to seeing me in and made comments about how nice I looked in it and how much he liked it which is uncalled for coming from your superior even outside of work."
The female firefighter who spoke with the Savannah Moring News spoke also recounted personal instances of sexual and verbal harassment during her employment under Harrell — incidents that were documented with Tybee's HR department. The Savannah Morning News obtained copies of those complaints.
These accounts outline how Harrell created an uncomfortable and intimidating environment for both male and female workers of the fire department and Tybee Island lifeguards.
According to complaints sent to the city's HR and conversations with current and former employees, incidents involving Harrell date as far back as 2017.
Employees describe an HR system that seemed to downplay the severity of their complaints. They said they took their concerns directly to an HR staffer.
One complainant claims he was told by HR in 2019 that " Matt Harrell was holding the department together like glue." He said he met with Tybee Mayor Shirley Sessions in early 2020 and that she acknowledged his concerns.
Sessions confirmed the meeting with the complainant and said she shared his concerns with City Manager Shawn Gillen.
Gillen declined to comment on personnel matters.
Despite the employee complaints, Harrell was promoted from interim fire chief to fire chief on April 8, 2021.
Harrell's appointment to chief prompted several more employees to bring forward complaints, according to a current firefighter. Those accusations led to a series of interviews with those staffers and others in the last half of April.
Harrell was placed on paid leave a few weeks after those interviews, on May 13, 2021. The city conducted at least one hearing regarding Harrell's conduct during his leave period, according to Harrell's attorney.
On June 12, just three days after the first complaint against Harrell was posted on social media, fire department employees were made to sign an NDA regarding Harrell's administrative leave. The sole text of the NDA paper states: "Please remember that the Chief being on leave is of great interest to a lot of people. You are all to refrain from speaking about it to anyone. Violations of this will result in disciplinary action."
Harrell declined to discuss details of the situation beyond denying the claims against him via email. Harrell's lawyer says she believes not enough people were approached by the city for interviews on Harrell's behalf.
"Their HR process, I believe, was flawed, and the investigative process was flawed," said Martin.
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