John Scarffe, Nederland. The Nederland Fire Protection District Board of Directors agreed to hire an external investigator to deal with a hostile workplace complaint during a virtual meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 11, 2020. The board first discussed the complaint at a meeting on June 3, 2020. 

On May 28, 2020, the board president of the Nederland Fire Protection District received a complaint regarding a hostile workplace, retaliation and violation of whistleblower statutes, insurance and pension fraud and lack of current employment manuals. The complainant requested an independent investigator to handle the complaint, and consequently, the board decided to engage an external investigation company to ensure a fair investigation, as a majority of the board could be seen as not impartial.

Board Chair Iain Irwin-Powell said he talked to an investigation company, and it would probably cost between $5,000 and $10,000 to investigate. He suggested having a conversation with the company to set the scope of work, and from that they will get an estimate about how much it would cost and what they would need to do. An external investigation would help to regain trust with the membership.

At the June 11 meeting, Irwin-Powell recommended hiring Employment Compliance Solutions (ECS) as the external investigator. ECS has worked with a number of fire districts in Colorado and is used to dealing with these issues.  

The investigation is confidential, and the board has no input. Billing will be monthly at an estimated cost between $5,000 and $15,000 depending on the complexity. 

The board discussed setting an initial cap at $5,000 to keep control of the costs and decide on progress. Irwin-Powell said ECS will start next week. If individuals are called, they will get a letter explaining the process and should not discuss anything outside of the interview but are duty bound to talk to the interviewer and speak with candor. 

ECS will conduct an initial inquiry to determine whether the complaint meets the legal definition of “hostile workplace” and then will report on the rest of the scope of work, and hopefully at a minimum that will be done by the next board meeting. Irwin-Powell said he will track the inquiry with ECS and provide updates. The board approved retention of Employment Compliance Solutions, with a cap at $5,000.

The next meeting of the Nederland Fire Protection District will be on July 1, 2020.

(Originally published in the June 18, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)