State arbitrators have reversed the demotion of a lieutenant in the Westbrook Fire Department who was punished after two women in the department complained of a hostile work environment.

The Board of Arbitration and Conciliation found that the city did not have just cause for demoting Donald Trafford to firefighter based on testimony from other members the department given at a hearing.

That testimony did, however, give a rare glimpse behind the scenes of the fire department, painting it as a place where derogatory and obscene language was used commonly, by both firefighters and top administrators, as well as by one of the women who complained about the hostile environment.

Trafford, 43, received the harshest punishment in December when the city disciplined seven members of the department, after an investigation into complaints made by firefighters Lisa Theberge and Kathy Rogers. The punishments for the other six ranged from a letter of reprimand to a 60-day suspension. Trafford was the only firefighter to file a grievance with the state’s Labor Relations Board.

From its investigation, the city determined that Trafford inappropriately criticized Theberge’s driving while on an emergency call. But the city didn’t interview a third firefighter who heard the interaction between Trafford and Theberge – and who testified to the board that Trafford didn’t raise his voice or use profanity in his criticism.

The third firefighter’s testimony was part of what led the board to overturn the city’s decision.

City Administrator Jerre Bryant said this week that after reading the board’s findings, he was confused about its conclusion.

“Most of what we based our decision on, they agreed happened,” he said.

The board’s decision, released Friday, also revealed that Theberge filed a complaint with the Maine Human Rights Commission against the city in September 2008 – around the same time she and Rogers were placed on administrative leave.

That leave was originally intended to last three weeks, but the two women have yet to return to work. Bryant said he’s not sure when Theberge and Rogers will return, but has said the city needs to make sure the department is a safe place for them to work first.

According to the city, on Trafford’s shift, “vulgar language and derogatory comments were commonplace, including comments of a sexual nature.” Theberge said Trafford used obscenities to insult her weight and haircut.

The city contended that, as a lieutenant, it was Trafford’s duty to intervene when inappropriate language was used, not add to it.

However, according to Trafford, he refrained from stopping the use of inappropriate language because his own supervisors, including then-chief Gary Littlefield, frequently used the same language.

Littlefield retired abruptly in October, soon after Theberge and Rogers started their leave.

Other members of the department testified at the arbitration hearing that Theberge often used vulgar language, as well, insulting other firefighters with obscenities and even repeating some of the same language she accused Trafford of using to insult her.

But the city’s justification for demoting Trafford wasn’t solely based on the vulgar language that firefighters said was frequently thrown around the department.

The city said that in March 2008, while Theberge was driving a fire truck during an emergency call, Trafford, who was in the passenger seat, “yelled at Firefighter Theberge and spoke to her in a mean and sarcastic tone about her driving.”

However, according to testimony from firefighter Joe Carroll, who was riding in the back of the truck but could hear the conversation between Trafford and Theberge through a headset, Trafford didn’t raise his voice or use profanity when criticizing Theberge’s driving, and that it was Theberge who raised her voice in response.

In the city’s investigation into the complaints made by Theberge and Rogers, conducted by human resources and labor relations consultant Michael Wing, Carroll was not interviewed, according to both Carroll and Wing.

After the incident in the truck, Theberge reported to Deputy Chief Thaddeus Soltys, who held a meeting with Trafford, Theberge and Capt. Peter Mullin. According to both Trafford and Theberge, Trafford said he should have waited to get back to the station to talk about her driving. However, Trafford subsequently contacted several other firefighters to ask what they thought of Theberge’s driving, which the city considered to constitute harassment.

The board found that the city was justified in disciplining Trafford for using inappropriate language and for asking other firefighters what they thought about Theberge’s driving, which, the board said, “suggests harassment.”

However, the board determined that Trafford wasn’t acting inappropriately during the incident in the fire truck.

The board ruled the city’s demotion of Trafford was a punishment “that exceeds the situation,” and that a two-week suspension was the appropriate disciplinary measure.

At the time of the punishments, attorney Howard Reben, who represents the Teamsters Local 340, said he was “shocked and disappointed by the harshness of the penalty” placed on Trafford.

This week, Reben said, both he and Trafford were “very pleased” with the decision by the Board of Arbitration and Conciliation.

He said the fact that the city tried to justify the demotion without taking testimony from Carroll, a third party who heard the entire interaction between Trafford and Theberge in the fire truck, made its case “laughable.”

According to the board’s written report, Reben suggested Theberge was motivated to make the allegations by a potential financial settlement, resulting from her complaint filed with the Human Rights Commission.

Though Theberge hadn’t filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission before, Rogers has twice won settlements with the city, once in 1994 and again in 2003, after favorable decisions from the Human Rights Commission.

Rebecca Webber, attorney for both Rogers and Theberge, did not return a call from the American Journal this week.

Trafford’s pay was reduced from $19.63 per hour to $18.52 per hour when he was demoted. Bryant said he will again receive his former rate of pay and back pay for the months in which he received the lower rate. However, with another week of unpaid suspension to serve, Bryant said, it would be “close to a wash.”

Trafford has been with the department for 14 years.

“Hopefully, he goes back to being a lieutenant and they leave him alone,” Reben said.

According to Bryant, in the wake of the decision, some shifts will have to be reassigned to make sure a lieutenant is working on each one.

As for the decision itself, Bryant said, “we’ll deal with it and move on.”