DATE: Saturday, September 27, 1997          TAG: 9709270421

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY AND MATTHEW DOLAN, staff writers 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:  108 lines

COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST CHESAPEAKE FIRE CHIEF SECRETARY ALLEGES SEXUAL HARASSMENT.

A secretary in the city's fire administration office has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.

Acting city manager Clarence V. Cuffee confirmed Friday that the city's fire chief, Michael L. Bolac, is the target of ongoing city and federal investigations into an employee's sexual harassment complaint.

``I believe that they are going on simultaneously,'' Cuffee said Friday of the investigations being pursued by the city and the federal EEOC.

He would not provide details of the allegations.

Two Chesapeake city employees, who declined to be named for fear of retribution, have told The Virginian-Pilot that one of the accusations involved an incident of sexually oriented remarks in August 1996.

Bolac walked out of his office and approached a female secretary who was picking up paper clips from the floor.

Bolac allegedly came within about 2 feet of the employee and thrust his hips toward her head, the sources said. As he did so, Bolac held out his hands as if he intended to grab her head, one source said.

He then made comments, according to the sources, indicating that she was in the ``perfect position,'' or at ``just the right height.''

Bolac, contacted twice on Friday, declined to comment on the investigation.

``I am not permitted,'' Bolac said. ``I can't talk about internal affairs.

He said that the city's internal investigation, which he described as an ``administrative matter,'' should be allowed to run its course.

The woman who filed the complaint is not permitted to talk about the allegations, according to city policy.

The EEOC complaint, filed on July 28, says that the woman ``was subjected to sexually offensive comments and lewd mannerisms'' continuously from 1994 and on three separate dates - two in 1996 and one in 1997.

Details of allegations related to incidents other than the alleged August 1996 episode could not be confirmed late Friday.

The woman filing the complaint was disciplined in the past for an incident of alleged financial wrongdoing.

While declining to comment on the Bolac investigation, City Attorney Ronald S. Hallman said any city department head reports directly to the city manager.

``Any disciplinary action taken against a department head by the city manager can be'' appealed to a three-member panel selected by the employee and the city manager, Hallman said.

The decision of that panel after a closed-door hearing, he said, would be the final decision.

Hallman also said there has been no change in Bolac's job status.

In recent years, Bolac has reacted swiftly when confronted with sexual harassment complaints against other employees.

In one case of sexual harassment, Bolac suspended a senior employee for at least 3 1/2 months, according to a June 1993 letter from Bolac. He issued the punishment less than a month after he received the original complaint.

He also required the senior employee in that case to complete a sexual-harassment awareness course.

In recent weeks, more than a dozen fire department employees have been interviewed by city officials apparently regarding the current EEOC investigation.

Some fire department employees have told The Pilot they want to talk publicly about accusations against Bolac, but worry that they may face disciplinary actions if they do.

Days after The Pilot interviewed several department employees about Bolac, the fire department chief issued a memo to all fire department personnel banning ``dissemination of confidential information.''

In the memo, dated Sept. 10, Bolac put a gag order on his employees after he learned that some department members had talked with the media.

``Department members who violate these rules and regulations, and supervisors who allow them to be violated, will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action,'' he wrote.

In recent years, members of the fire department have received extensive diversity and sensitivity training on such topics as sexual harassment, discrimination and foul language.

An August 1995 document outlines Bolac's ``action plan to improve and maintain cultural and gender-based sensitivity and accountability in the Chesapeake and EMS Departments.''

The six-page document lists dozens of actions and the corresponding status reports for each. Most of the actions were completed. The remainder were labeled as continuing or ongoing.

Included in the action plan was the institution of ``a departmental policy of `no tolerance' to racial and sexual harassment and discrimination.''

According to that policy, battalion chiefs were directed to tell their subordinates that employees would not merely be counseled for incidents of racial or gender misconduct.

``Effective November 1, 1993, the minimum action shall be a verbal reprimand. Also, any racial or gender based misconduct shall be properly documented in the employee's personnel record and on performance evaluations,'' the policy stated.

Bolac, who has served as fire chief for about 11 years, came to the Chesapeake department from Alexandria, where he rose through the ranks to battalion chief. Bolac was chosen over 134 applicants for the Chesapeake job.

During Bolac's tenure, he has dealt with claims of racism that occurred when a firefighter put a pillowcase over his head and pretended to be a Ku Klux Klan member, allegedly in jest. He also battled problems of sexual harassment when men in one company baked a meatloaf in the shape of a penis and at least one male firefighter slept in the nude without regard for a female firefighter whose bunk was nearby.

Bolac responded to those problems with disciplinary actions and the creation of separate sleeping quarters for men and women. He ordered the distribution of clothing that firefighters must wear when sleeping.

In earlier interviews, he attributed some of the unrest through the years to growing pains - changes in the business of firefighting, new technology, more rigorous training requirements, increased presence by women and minorities, and a style of management that gives individuals more responsibility. KEYWORDS: SEXUAL HARRASSMENT CHESAPEAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT

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