ORLANDO, Fla — An Orlando district fire chief called her work environment hostile, saying she complained but was then retaliated against. Now she says she had no choice but to sue.
District Fire Chief Alissa Baussan has been with the department for more than two decades, becoming the first Black woman to be promoted to district chief.
“I love. I loved it. I never envisioned myself doing it. It was it was challenging, but it was very rewarding. I was very happy,” she said.
But Bassaun says her career is now not only at a standstill, but going backward.
When asked if she loved her job, she said, " No, I love the idea of being of service, but the cost now, it’s too much just to just show up to work.”
She says she was sick, but the department’s policies and practices disrupted her accommodations for her illness just after the new fire chief was hired in 2022.
Now more than two years later of what she says was a hostile work environment, she is suing, saying she was retaliated and discriminated against because she spoke up.
Her lawsuit claims she was transferred to a different position with a different schedule and had her duties taken away given to “white male chiefs” “who had less seniority that she did.”
She called this alleged behavior a “message” to both the person complaining and to other who are contemplating bring their own issues forward.
“It’s a message that’s been heard, but female firefighters don’t try. There are consequences,” Bassaun said.
And this is not the first issue brought to light from women in the fire department. In 2019, a group of women firefighters called the Orlando 7 filed an anonymous complaint about harassment in the department by management. The city paid an outside investigator who found no evidence of it.
Two other women also came forward in a separate complaint.
Then in 2021, the department settled a million-dollar suit with then-Assistant Fire Chief Dawn Sumter.
But according to the union, there have been more complaints in the last two years.
The union president wrote to the members, “Virtually all of these cases involve female employees being negatively affected by the actions of senior leadership. they have been denied promotions, transferred to less desirable assignments, stripped of job duties and been retaliated against. Let me be clear, local 1365 will not idly standby while the brave men and women that serve the citizens of Orlando are being systematically mistreated.”
The union says they have talked to the City Council about the issues and are now developing a public campaign to highlight the struggles within the department.
A statement from the fire department said, “The Orlando Fire Department does not accept any type of discrimination and remains committed to fostering a compassionate culture that embraces inclusion, diversity and equity within the department. We are proud of the great strides we’ve made, and continue to make, to ensure OFD is a place where everyone is equally valued, appreciated and protected. Due to pending litigation, we are not in a position to provide comment on the referenced lawsuit at this time. While we are unable to comment on the specifics of the ongoing litigation, we can confirm that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) did not make any finding of discrimination.”
To provide some background, Baussan’s claims arose from an issue related to a request for a 40-hour work week. Due to the nature of the fire service, the majority of sworn positions at the Orlando Fire Department require 48-hour work weeks comprised of two 24-hour shifts per week. Of the 511 sworn employees, 487 currently work this shift schedule.
The city sent this statement in response to a comment request: “While Baussan’s position was initially changed in conjunction with multiple district chief transfers, Baussan was permitted to remain in a 40-hour day shift position and continue in this assignment as of today.”
The Orlando Fire Department remains committed to fairness and equity and strongly believe that Chief Baussan has been treated with the utmost fairness throughout this process.
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