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Dallas Chief Cleared of Harassment Charges

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EARLIER THIS YEAR ON AUGUST 20 we posted an article (HERE) that began: 

TWO HIGH-RANKING OFFICIALS, ONE UNIFORMED AND ONE CIVILIAN, AT DALLAS FIRE-RESCUE left their jobs abruptly yesterday and Tuesday.  Assistant Chief John Cook, one of two chiefs brought in from outside last year by Fire Chief Eddie Burns, resigned suddenly on Tuesday and left his post immediately.

Leanne Siri-Edwards, a civilian who served as the department’s executive general manager, was called in to the Dallas City Manager’s office yesterday at lunch time and fired on the spot without explanation.  As she left the office she was immediately escorted from the building and her personal items were removed from her office and delivered to her outside the building.

Siri-Edwards had been demoted in April, with a resulting 30% pay reduction, and had immediately filed a formal complaint of sexual harassment against Fire-Rescue Chief Eddie Burns.  The City Manager then hired an independent firm to conduct an investigation into the complaints and late yesterday (Friday) the results were released.

The report showed that most of the allegations, including sexual harassment, gender discrimination, physical assault and retaliatory conduct, could not be proven and none of them against Chief Burns.

The department is not in the clear, though.  The investigation also concluded that there is a strong pattern of sexual discrimination within the department and listed some of the more egregious examples. 

Dallas tv Channel 4 goes into more detail in this REPORT.
The Dallas Morning News has MORE.

WFAA-TV has this video report: