Crime & Safety

Woodinville Fire District and Firefighters Union Clash Over Report

The accuracy of an independent report clearing Deputy Chief Mario Acosta of allegations of bullying has been called into question by IAFF Local 2950.

This week revealed conflict in King County Fire District 36 (Woodinville Fire & Rescue) between the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2950 and the district’s board of commissioners.

In a , the board and the Local clashed about the transfer of six firefighters and the closing of Station 34, 12703 NE 144th Street, as part of the Kirkland annexation of the Kingsgate area scheduled for June 1.

In addition to those concerns, Local 2950 is also calling for further independent investigation into allegations of bullying, retaliation, intimidation, dishonesty and general misconduct, beginning in May of last year by Deputy Fire Chief Mario Acosta.

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Chief I. David Daniels, who declined to comment for this story but did provide Patch with the report in question, attached as a PDF to this story, commissioned an investigation into the allegations from The Madavi Group, a private human services firm in Seattle.

The resulting report from that investigation, presented to the district in April, clears Deputy Chief Acosta of any wrongdoing.

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Local 2950 claim the report is biased. In a written statement (full text attached to this story as a PDF), union president Greg Ahern and vice president Wally Holstad write:

“There are omissions of witness accounts, apparent misrepresentations of factual information, and a glaring partiality on the part of the author who goes so far to claim explicitly that only one participant in her view was notably credible – Chief David Daniels. And although it might not violate industry standards, the report exposes and potentially makes vulnerable the witnesses that participated in the investigation, subjecting them to possible further intimidation, retaliation, and harassment.”

At the board of commissioners meeting Monday, board president Tim Osgood defended the report and chastised the union for resurfacing a subject that he believed had been adequately addressed.

Reading from a prepared statement, Osgood said, “I understand that these concerns were raised during the Labor Management Retreat in November of 2010. While no specific complaint was ever filed by the Local, or any member of the Local, Chief Daniels saw fit to speak with DFC Acosta about the concerns.”

“While on the surface it appeared that the issues were resolved, on-going concerns raised by the Local led the Chief to move DFC Acosta from the Response Operations section to the Safety/Risk Management section,” Osgood continued, “No claims have been raised by his direct reports since the move occurred. At the same time, the Chief, being committed to an environment free of harassment and discrimination wanted to find out IF any illegal discrimination had occurred. A review by an outside investigative firm proved that NO illegal discrimination had occurred."

Osgood went on to state that the board of commissioner will not tolerate any illegal discrimination in the fire district. The union’s position is the report left out interviews who complained of episodes of individual harassment.

“Another witness that was not included in the report took much effort and time relaying to the investigator repeated and prolonged episodes of a hostile work environment that at one point had the harassed employee facing formal charges and six shifts off without pay,” the union wrote in its response to the report.

The board has not yet responded to the union’s request for another investigation.


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