Eric Einagel and his boss, Capt. Greg Wright, have been charged with crimes, but they haven’t been tried in court yet
Last year, a ritualistic dishwashing competition at an Ottawa fire station turned violent when a rookie firefighter was choked. Later that day, the victim, who was an out-and-proud non-binary firefighter, was taken to a supply closet by their supervisor and told not to report the incident, according to two internal fire department investigations that CBC got a hold of.
Even though the final reports only talk about what happened right before, during, and right after the violent event, they do say that there was a culture of fear and silence at Ottawa Fire Services.
The new firefighter who spoke up about what happened was so afraid of getting in trouble for doing so that they asked management to remove their contact information from all fire service records. The department did as they asked. Some of the witnesses who were interviewed were also worried about what might happen to them if they spoke up, and in the end, some of them only gave written statements.
The fire department found that two firefighters who were not named had broken municipal and provincial workplace rules. Even though both were found not guilty of verbally harassing the new employee about their gender identity, appearance, and pronouns before and during the violence, the complainant’s claims in the reports raise questions about how inclusive Ottawa Fire Services is.
Eric Einagel and his boss, Capt. Greg Wright, each have to deal withOttawa police have brought charges against peopleEinagel is accused of choking, harassing, and other things on September 14, 2022, at Station 47 on Greenbank Road in Barrhaven. Wright is accused of criminal negligence causing bodily harm for not getting medical help for the rookie complainant.
Einagel was fired from the fire department in the end, and Wright will be suspended for three days without pay. Sources in the fire department told CBC that Wright was chosen to supervise the non-binary firefighter.Last week, lawyers for the two said that.
Einagel and Wright have not been tried in court for the crimes they are accused of, so the law still sees them as innocent.
Doing the dishes is a sign of “eagerness to perform.
The two internal Ottawa Fire Services reports that CBC got were written by Deputy Chief Dave Matschke. Chief Paul Hutt asked him to find out if workplace safety rules or the city’s code of conduct had been broken on September 14.
According to the reports, Matschke’s investigations started on September 21, four days after the complainant filed a report about an accident or injury and one day after the complainant went to Ottawa police. Reports say that police then asked the fire department to stop investigating from September 28 to November 16.
Matschke’s fire department investigations started up again and were done on February 20. On March 8, his final reports were given to Hutt.
In the two reports, no one is named, and it is not clear that only two people were looked into.
One of Matschke’s two reports says that the violence happened during a “common” fire station tradition in which junior employees compete for the chance to do chores like washing dishes. This shows senior staff “how eager they are to do their jobs,” the report says.
Matschke found that another firefighter choked and pushed the rookie complainant against a kitchen counter. The complainant’s lawyer, Paul Champ, told CBC that they didn’t want to be exposed to hate-motivated attacks, so CBC agreed not to identify them. He wrote that the same firefighter had also thrown dishes onto the complainant’s hands while they were washing other dishes.
After looking at what witnesses said, Matschke came to the conclusion that the choking didn’t happen exactly the way the first-time complainant said it did. The rookie and the respondent started out by pushing each other on purpose, but the respondent’s one-handed choking went “far beyond what was normal from previous interactions over the chore of doing dishes,” Matschke wrote.
On the same day, the person who filed the complaint said they told their boss they were hurt and wanted to go to the hospital. The boss allegedly told them: “You don’t need to go to the hospital because you are fine. You are taking in air. Can you move? The best thing you can do for your career as a firefighter is to get on the truck and check smoke detectors at people’s homes for two hours as part of the door-to-door program “Matschke wrote something about the supervisor in a separate report.
Later that day, when they got back from a call, the complainant said the supervisor put a chair in a supply closet under a set of stairs in the truck bay, told them to go in and calm down, slammed the door, turned off the lights, and said, among other things:
- “The way you are has nothing to do with this. This was just an argument over dishes that got out of hand. You aren’t the first person to be strangled. Many firefighters have been strangled before you. I’ve been choked out at work, and that’s a normal thing that can be fixed. A lot of firefighters have fought a lot and broken things. No one tells on anyone else. You won’t go tell anyone, because this is a family matter, and we’ll figure it out at the station. HR will make a big deal out of it. You don’t want that to happen to your name because you don’t want people to hold it against you or come after you for the rest of your career, and I won’t let this waste my time.”
The report doesn’t talk about the accusations made over the phone separately. It only says that both parties agree that the conversation in the supply closet was about whether or not a report would be made, but that they “indicate different content.”
Matschke found that the supervisor broke Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act when he didn’t report the incident as required. He also broke the city’s policy and code of conduct on workplace violence and harassment when he told the complainant not to report the incident during their conversation in the supply closet.
Matschke found that the firefighter broke the policy against violence and harassment at work when he choked the new employee who made the complaint.
Eight people were talked to, including the person who filed the complaint, the people who responded, and witnesses.
Alleged pattern of harassmen
Matschke’s report says that the non-binary person said they were harassed about their gender identity, personality, and appearance up until September 14. Some of the things that are said to have been said are:
- “My sister is a lesbian, which makes sense to me because she is a woman and so are you. Since you are also a woman, you are also a lesbian, and this whole “non-binary queer” thing doesn’t make any sense. It’s only recently become popular; a couple of years ago, it wasn’t even a thing.”
- “Guys on the floor don’t get “they” and “them.” Why can’t you be called “she” or “her”?
- “Because of who you are, the guys on the floor hate you. No matter what, you look the way you look, and that will be a problem for you until it changes.”
- “You need to be different.”
- “This station is easy on you. Other stations would treat you badly, and you wouldn’t last long.”
- “I’m getting so sick of you.”
Matschke found that the comments were either “taken out of context” or “didn’t happen based on what witnesses said,” so they couldn’t be proven. He also wrote that no staff who worked with the firefighter and the complainant between August 1 and September 14 heard the alleged comments during any shifts.
Again, the report doesn’t respond to each comment separately. It’s not clear which of Matschke’s comments were taken out of context and which, according to witnesses, didn’t happen.
“Witness evidence shows that a lot of work was done to make the complainant feel welcome and like they were part of the team, and it was never done in a mean way,” Matschke’s report says.
“It’s hard to compare the cases,” they said
Dominic Lamb, who is Einagel’s criminal defense lawyer, said on Tuesday that he and his client won’t say anything.
Wright’s criminal defense lawyer, Joshua Clarke, said in an email on Wednesday that Wright “acknowledges” the internal findings of the fire department, but he disagrees with the findings and his suspension, and he is fighting the suspension.
“It’s important to understand the different rules that apply. Internal investigations require a level of certainty of 50 percent plus one. Charges of a crime must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, which is a lot more than 50% “Clarke added.
“It’s hard to compare the internal fire department case and the criminal case without seeing all the internal evidence, but it’s tempting to do so.”
The local firefighters’ union, the Ottawa Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, won’t say anything about the internal fire department reports. In an email to CBC on Wednesday, they said that the matter is in the hands of the courts and they can’t say anything.
The city, on the other hand, wouldn’t say anything about the two reports or what was in them. In an email, it said that it doesn’t comment on individual personnel matters.
“Violence and harassment in the workplace are against the city’s rules, including if they are based on any of the reasons listed in the Human Rights Code. The city knows that members of equity-seeking groups, such as 2SLGBTQ+ communities, have in the past been targets of violence and harassment in the workplace “Margaret-Marie Steele, the associate director of human resources, wrote on Tuesday.
“All punishments are decided based on the city’s discipline policy and any relevant collective bargaining agreements or laws.”
In an email sent Wednesday, Hutt said that the fire service “values the safety, rights, and dignity of all of its members and is committed to giving them a safe place to work based on a culture of respect and inclusion. We have a policy that says we won’t stand for any kind of harassment, violence, or discrimination, and we take claims of wrongdoing very seriously.”
The union files a complaint about firing and suspensio
President Dave André told CBC in an email on Wednesday that the firefighters’ union has filed a complaint about Einagel’s firing and Wright’s suspension. “We continue to support all our members involved,” he added.
Last week, Einagel and Wright’s disciplinary actions were made public. On Saturday, André posted a statement on the union’s website saying that the union “may have no choice but to challenge” the actions.
André wrote that members should be able to give evidence in support of another member. Thursday, the union’s grievance committee met with the city to talk about the problems. On Friday, the union was told that nothing was going to change.
André wrote that the next step is to “decide how to assign legal counsel” to handle the firing and suspension if they go to arbitration.
“We want to make it clear that all members have the right to work in a place where they don’t have to worry about being treated unfairly, being hurt, or being harassed. This position hasn’t changed, and nothing we do in this situation will make us move away from it “André added.
Wright and Einagel were supposed to go to court Wednesday to answer for their crimes.
The rookie who made the complaint is now on paid leave.