Hewett, NAACP Ask New London To Hire Mayo

Rep. Ernest Hewett and local NAACP leaders have called for New London to hire a black firefighter recruit terminated two days before his graduation from the Connecticut Fire Academy, according to the Norwich Bulletin.

Hewett and the NAACP hosted a press conference at the State Capitol on Tuesday urging Mayor Daryl Finizio to review the circumstances regarding the , who would have become the first black firefighter in the since 1978. An investigation into the matter by the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection determined that there were a number of missteps in the academy’s communications with the fire department regarding Mayo. It also recommended a number of policy changes at the academy, including having the academy be the sole agency determining whether recruits are allowed to graduate.

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“I have been involved in this issue for several months after Mr. Mayo came forward with this ordeal,” Hewett said in a press release. “It appears, based on the report findings, that Mr. Mayo has been telling us the truth all along. Now I am interested to see how we move forward from this situation and how we apply this experience to the future.”

Finizio, who following an NAACP hearing on matters related to New London’s police and fire departments, said he was grateful to receive the report. However, he said the city is still investigating a matter involving Mayo’s driver’s license and is waiting for a resolution on that matter.

“Having a driver's license is an essential qualifier for becoming a firefighter and the city's position has not changed until that issue is resolved,” said Finizio.

Circumstances leading to Mayo’s firing

According to a Feb. 27 memo from Fire Chief Ron Samul to Finizio, Mayo began training on Sept. 12. Samul said he received five communications from the fire academy between the start of Mayo’s training and Dec. 19. He said these included concerns over Mayo’s behavior at the academy, including allegations that he showed disrespect to fellow recruits and instructors, made an obscene gesture while marching in formation, and may have been involved in writing the class’s name in wet cement. Samul said the Connecticut State Police also informed him that Mayo was issued a motor vehicle violation and two infractions while driving from the academy on Nov. 18 and did not inform the city or academy of the stop.

Samul recommended terminating Mayo in a Dec. 19 memo to Personnel Coordinator Bernadette Welch. Samul said the academy had not raised similar concerns with any other recruit sent to the academy during his tenure.

“If we have to question whether or not he will be trustworthy and honest at this point, I am confident he will not succeed the probationary period within the New London Fire Department,” Samul concluded.

Finizio upheld the decision to terminate Mayo after consulting with Samul, Welch, Chief Administrative Officer Jane Glover, and City Council President Pro Tempore Wade Hsylop. He said he also asked to review the test scores, personnel files, the racial makeup of the class and instructors at the state fire academy, and comparisons for individuals sent to the academy from New London from the past decade.

Investigation

Reuben F. Bradford, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, wrote to Finzio and Samul on Monday regarding the investigation into the matter. Bradford said Mayo is certified as a firefighter and eligible for employment despite not graduating. He also said he felt the academy should have followed procedures for issuing deficiency points regarding any issues with Mayo’s behavior before contacting the fire department on them.

“Mr. Mayo’s academic performance indicates that he persevered in the face of considerable adversity which would indicate the presence of positive intangibles in his character,” Bradford writes.

Steven Spellman, chief of staff of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, conducted an investigation into the firing. Spellman concluded that some of the academy’s communications to the fire department “were inappropriate and contained adverse conclusions concerning Mr. Mayo that were not solidly based in evidence.”

These conclusions included a determination by William DeFord, the academy’s recruit program coordinator, that there was a “high probability” that Mayo wrote the class’s name in wet cement. Spellman said there were two incidents where the class's name was written in cement, and that a recruit confessed to one of them. Spellman said there was no clear evidence of who was responsible for the other incident, but that some recruits joking that Mayo was responsible as the class’s only black student “may have helped create an actual perception and atmosphere” in which Mayo was blamed.

Spellman concludes that Mayo was unlikely to seek to memorialize the class given some of his experiences at the academy, including a prank where water was put into his boots.

“I don’t think he did it,” Spellman concludes. “No one knows, and yet official communications went forth from this agency to his potential employer stating that it was highly probable that he did do it and then attacking his honesty, trustworthiness and integrity for not confessing.”

Spellman says the academy assigns deficiency points for major or minor errors. Mayo’s class received 137 deficiency points, mostly for academic performance, and that Mayo received two points during his time at the academy. Spellman said the academy contacted Samul on occasions where it may have used deficiency points to encourage a change in behavior.

The investigation also concluded that while there is deference to sponsoring fire departments on how to handle problems with recruits, this can be problematic in terms of due process. DeFord said the academy might have sought to prevent Mayo’s graduation if Samul had not recommended termination, but Spellman said Mayo would have been able to appeal the academy’s decision if this had occurred.

“Despite Mr. DeFord’s suggestion that a dismissal might have been pursued if New London had not acted, the record concerning Mr. Mayo does not support a conclusion that he should have been dismissed,” Spellman says.

Spellman also noted that a white recruit was caught cheating on a test but later allowed to graduate. The fire chief of this recruit’s department was informed of the infraction and recommended that the recruit be given the opportunity to take the test under controlled conditions to see if he could pass.

“When you add race into the consideration, it becomes more than troublesome that the only black recruit was pulled from the academy prior to graduation despite being certified as a Firefighter 1 and Firefighter 2 and a white male who was caught cheating, a far more serious matter than anything Recruit Mayo was accused of, was allowed to walk with the graduates and be retested for purposes of certification,” says Spellman.

Recommendations

Spellman makes several recommendations in the conclusion of his report. These include:

• Directing fire academy staff to use the deficiency point system and not contact a recruit’s fire department unless procedure is followed.
• Greater oversight of communications between the academy and fire departments, with only official documents sent and confirmation by the director of training or state fire administrator that procedure has been followed for any negative communications
• Having the academy staff be the sole determiner of whether or not a recruit should graduate
• Revision of the academy’s rules and regulations to explicitly prohibit discrimination
• Efforts to diversify training staff by gender and race, and make diversity training available to academy staff

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