Fire Department discrimination claims temporarily withdrawn

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – The Shreveport Municipal Fire and Police Service Board held a meeting at Fire Maintenance.

One order of business on the agenda was an “investigation from Deputy Fire Chief Carolyn Henderson ‘into discriminatory practices and an abuse of authority by Chief Reese.'”

Due to an objection of evidence by the counsel of Shreveport Fire Department Chief Clarence Reese, Deputy Fire Chief Henderson withdrew her allegations and will re-file for an investigation.

Deputy Fire Chief Carolyn Henderson was represented by Norris Guillot, a national advocate for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

During the meeting, Deputy Chief Henderson and Guillot presented a hearing document with multiple allegations against Chief Reese related to “discriminatory practices and an abuse of authority.”

Counsel for Chief Reese objected to the evidence being presented to the Shreveport Municipal Fire and Police Service Board.

Chief Reese’s attorney stated that they were not aware of the numerous allegations and therefore did not have time to prepare a defense.

Chief Reese’s attorney stated that the document of grievances was not related to the complaint that was filed. The complaint was in regard to “abuse of power and discriminatory practices leading to a denial of travel expenses for Deputy Chief Henderson.”

During the meeting, Guillot stated that the events listed in the document contained issues related to “discriminatory practices and abuse of authority.”

The board stated that it would be a violation of Chief Reese’s rights to continue with allegations that he had not previously heard. The board stated that they were prepared to hear testimony on the issue of “travel expenses.”

The board stated that all details must be provided for an investigation.

Deputy Chief Henderson requested to withdraw the presented allegations, and the motion passed.

Chief Reese declined to comment.

Following the meeting, Guillot said, “The hearing document that we had today that discussed her complaint filing of the grievance, that document was presented to the city, and to Chief Reese, and to the civil service board. In that document, it clearly stated discrimination and abuse of power. So, we don’t know why that the civil service board did not take into consideration to serve a notice of investigation when those words are clearly notated in the complaint.”

Guillot did not provide details on the allegations; however, he stated that there are issues of discrimination within the Shreveport Fire Department.

“This is not the first time that the fire department has been put on notice for discrimination against females, especially those females who have actually been with the fire department for a number of years we see that there is consistence and there is also a pattern practice of the individuals we are alleging that has actually discriminated against females in the fire department,” said Guillot.

Guillot says they will file a request for an investigation for all information presented to the counsel. He adds that the complaint has been filed with the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.