YOUNGSTOWN — The latest in a long line of conflicts between the firefighters union and the city administration has the former filing a lawsuit, contending Youngstown officials have refused to follow proper protocol in response to a complaint that the fire chief threatened a firefighter.

The firefighters union and Charlie Smith, its president, filed the writ of mandamus — which seeks to have the 7th District Court of Appeals compel the city to follow state and local laws — regarding an Oct. 28, 2019, incident.

Firefighter Patrick Holcomb contends Chief Barry Finley told him he “would have thrown him through a wall” for a statement the firefighter made a few days earlier, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks two things:

l For the city to appoint an independent, neutral party to investigate the complaint of “alleged intimidation and harassment” by Finley that could result in disciplinary action against the chief.

l For the city to provide all correspondence, witness statements and investigative reports to the union related to the matter.

“This is another example of how our administration is getting away with situations that are both frustrating and unfair,” Smith said.

He added that the union is “frustrated that the situation has yet to be handled, which is why we have appealed to the court to move this investigation forward. We respect whatever outcome is decided, but do not agree with the fact that it has been drawn out by the city. We hope this lawsuit expedites the process to get justice for our firefighter and hold the correct people accountable for their actions.”

CASE CLOSED?

But Law Director Jeff Limbian said: “It’s my appreciation that firefighter Holcomb was supposed to get back to us with more information and he didn’t. Because he didn’t give the information to us, we consider the investigation closed. It’s a closed investigation.”

Limbian said he’s provided the “completed investigative report” to the union.

Smith said that isn’t the case and the city insists on dragging this out.

“They’ve been stalling,” he said.

On Oct. 16, 2019, during a discussion about ongoing safety issues, Holcomb told Finley that if something happened to him, his family would sue the chief, Smith said. Holcomb tried to apologize and acknowledge he said something wrong, but the chief refused to accept and wrote a disciplinary letter, Smith said.

On Oct. 28, 2019, during a pre-disciplinary hearing for Holcomb, Holcomb said the chief told him if he’d spoken to him, he “would have thrown him through a wall,” according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit brings up a Feb. 1, 2012, incident when Finley was a captain. He grabbed a firefighter from his chair and slammed him against two walls of a fire station, putting him through the drywall. That led to a 45-day unpaid suspension.

The union contends Finley also was given a “last-chance agreement” that if he engaged in physically assaultive conduct against a co-worker during the next 10 years, he’d be fired. Limbian has said the union mischaracterizes the letter as a “last-chance agreement.”

The union has requested four times — Dec. 4, 2019; Dec. 30, 2019; Jan. 17 and June 4 — that the city appoint a neutral third-party to “investigate the alleged hostile and intimidating behavior displayed by” Finley toward Holcomb on Oct. 28, 2019, and the city has ignored each request, according to the lawsuit.

Limbian said because Holcomb didn’t cooperate, the investigation is closed.

OTHER DISPUTES

There has been an uneasy relationship between the union and city officials, particularly Finley, since shortly after the chief was appointed in early 2018.

Last month, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s Public Employee Risk Reduction Program issued four health and safety hazard violations against the city related to failing to protect firefighters from the COVID-19 pandemic. The city has been working to resolve the issues and is nearly in compliance, Smith said.

The administration closed fire stations starting this past June on a rotating basis because the fire department had already exceeded its yearly overtime budget in the first five months. The union has objected, saying it’s dangerous and the city has failed to fill positions — causing the overtime issue.

The city closed stations on a rotating basis for about three months in 2018 because of overtime costs.

The union issued a no-confidence vote against Finley in December 2019 after expressing concerns about his leadership, and the city closed Fire Station No. 7 on the North Side that month over the objections of the union.

The State Employment Relations Board ruled in June that the city violated the union’s collective bargaining rights when it decided to eliminate three battalion fire chief positions through attrition.

The union contends, and SERB agreed, that the city improperly retaliated after agreeing to provide upgrades to the department’s radio equipment and then decided to save the money for that by reducing battalion chiefs through attrition from six to three. One position has been eliminated to date.

SERB ordered the city to cancel the reduction and promote a fire captain, Chad Manchester, to battalion chief with back pay to Dec. 3, 2019.

The city is appealing the decision. Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney agreed Aug. 7 to stay the order to promote Manchester while the administrative appeal is ongoing. She also scheduled filings from both sides that run through January 2021 to resolve the matter.

Before that, John M. Durkin, another county common pleas court judge, had found the city in contempt of court for not filling the vacancy.