Fire Captain Larry Marciano, a 30-year veteran of the all-volunteer Secaucus Fire Department, has refused to complete sensitivity training, one of 14 fire fighters declining the newly mandated course.
Marciano said he believes the training to be a response to an incident from April where two gay residents living next door to the fire house located in the north end of town alleged that they were harassed by members of the house. Town officials claim that the training has nothing to do with the incident, although it was suddenly mandated after the incident.
Marciano and seven of the dissenting firefighters belong to the 20-member Washington Hook and Ladder house, located on the other side of town, on County Road by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
“It’s an issue that has to do with the other company, not with ours, and not with me personally,” Marciano said last week.
Marciano received a letter dated July 8, stating that he had been removed from the list of active firefighters due to his failure to attend the sensitivity training class, and placed on an inactive list.
The letter advised, “You, as an inactive firefighter, are not to respond to any fire alarms, emergency or special calls except as a spectator. Nor are you to participate in any company/department trainings or drills either in or out of town. Failure to comply with the requirements of being inactive may and will result in suspension from the Secaucus Fire Department.”
There are 85 members of the department, including the 14 newly inactive members.
Thirty years of service
Marciano said he has responded to four or five calls since June 27, the last day of training.
He said that he met with Mayor Dennis Elwell three weeks ago to discuss the issue and hasn’t heard back.
Marciano said his objection is that with 30 years of service, he doesn’t feel he should have to go through non-firefighting related training, and says there have been exceptions in the past.
“Years ago, they made a special ruling with bearded firemen,” said Marciano. “They were able to respond to fires, just not wear the self contained breathing apparatus. Why isn’t that good enough for us? That was a safety issue, and this isn’t. So why are you telling me that a guy cannot fight fires because he doesn’t take sensitivity training?”
Marciano also objected to being issued an ultimatum.
“If they had gone about it a little differently, other than sending me a letter saying we were on inactive service and to be suspended, this would be different,” said Marciano. “If the fire chief would have sat down with the officers of the department.”
John Higgins, a former Captain and 20 year Fire Department member, also refused to take the training, but said that he never received a letter. He has attended six or seven fires since June 27, he said.
“I don’t think it’s fair, because we didn’t do anything,” said Higgins. “If it had anything to do with [firefighting] training, it would be fair.”
Marciano had no comment about the alleged incident, and said he would support sensitivity training as a requirement for new volunteers.
Marciano said he would appeal if he was officially suspended. (Technically, right now the firefighters are “inactive.” Higgins was undecided.
Both Higgins and Marciano said that there is no rift between the volunteers who took or did not take the training.
Lawyer accuses town of inaction
Neil Mullin of the law firm Smith, Mullin in Montclair is the lawyer for the alleged victims of the harassment, Tim Carter and Peter deVries. The pair has filed a lawsuit against the town.
Mullin said that the sensitivity training offered, which focuses on sexual harassment in the workplace, is an insufficient response to the problem at hand.
“Whatever it is, it’s too little, too late,” Mullin said. “There is an issue of discipline here that the town has to address. As I understand it, the firemen are reluctant to give the names of the people who attacked my clients. If a municipal employee refuses to do that, they should be disciplined.”
Town Administrator Anthony Iacono said in a phone interview two weeks ago that the plaintiffs hadn’t named anyone, making discipline impossible.
“You can’t just blame a group; you have to charge a party or parties,” Iacono said in a phone interview last week. “That’s basically what the attorney general’s office is trying to figure out – did someone commit a crime? You cannot arrest a whole group because someone was screaming obscenities. No one was able to give a description of any individual. They weren’t able to give any kind of evidence that would lead to the arrest of anybody.” Mullin said that his clients claim that there was a group of firemen who were present, and should be forced to identify the alleged attackers. He said he is confident that his own investigators will reveal them.
“The leadership should do everything they can do to identify the wrongdoers,” Mullin said.
Iacono said that the town was waiting for the attorney general’s office to complete their investigation before taking any further investigative action.
“No one has been charged with any crime at all still under investigation,” said Iacono. “The attorney general specifically in writing told us not to do anything until they get done with our review.”
Mullin said that the criminal investigation has no bearing on the civil investigation, which the town is required to complete.
“The attorney general has no authority to supercede a town’s investigation into a civil right’s violation,” said Mullin. “Someone’s civil rights have been violated. The town has an obligation under the New Jersey law against discrimination, and the State Constitution Article One, to investigate acts of discrimination carried out by their employees or their agents.”
State Division of Criminal Justice spokesperson John Haggerty did not return phone calls as of this writing.