By Anthony G. Attrino
nj.com
EAST ORANGE, N.J. — East Orange Fire Chief Andre Williams was reinstated to his job Tuesday morning, slightly more than three years to the day he was removed over complaints of harassment, intimidation and discrimination, officials said.
Williams was suspended with pay on Dec. 6, 2021, after a group of firefighters alleged the chief denied them promotions and intimidated them under fear of retaliation.
The suspension occurred shortly after a letter from the local firefighters’ unions reached city officials and the media, resulting in multiple published reports.
On Saturday, the East Orange City Council held a special meeting in which they voted 10-0 to reinstate Williams to chief, according to Connie Jackson , city spokeswoman.
Saturday’s special meeting and vote came after an investigation by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, and following months of closed administrative hearings, according to Anthony Iacullo, of Mandelbaum Barrett, the Roseland law firm representing Williams.
Public records show Williams earned an annual salary of $153,700 at the time he was suspended. Iacullo said Williams will be reinstated along with pay increases he may have been due during his suspension.
The 2021 prosecutor’s office investigation was triggered by a complaint one firefighter made to the city’s police department, officials said at the time of the suspension.
For months before he was suspended, firefighters aired grievances about Williams, including once in a nine-page letter addressed to Mayor Ted R. Green in which presidents of the two firefighter unions outlined complaints by 11 members of the 200-member paid fire department.
The letter included a range of allegations, some of which had already been reported to the city’s human resources department, the firefighters said.
One firefighter, who was in a same-sex relationship and took leave from work to serve in the U.S. military, was singled out because of her sexual orientation and came under fire from Williams because of her military service, according to the letter.
“She needs to do more firefighter work and less military work so all her problems can go away,” the letter quotes Williams as saying.
Two firefighters alleged that Williams resisted promoting them. One claimed Williams filed administrative charges against him to block his promotion. Another said Williams, who is Black, resisted promoting him, saying he wouldn’t promote white firefighters.
The white firefighter was eventually promoted but later harassed, including being pressured to buy a ticket to a promotional event as “indirect payment,” the letter alleged.
Another firefighter was persuaded to drop a complaint against Williams in exchange for having charges against him dismissed. However, the charges remained, and his pay was docked more than $2,000, the letter said.
A firefighter who raised concerns about a rodent infestation was reassigned to a busier unit after Williams saw a photo of an unsent email about the issue, according to the letter.
Williams’ attorney on Tuesday called all of the accusations against the chief baseless.
“We trust that this (reinstatement) will forever put an end to the injustice that Chief Williams endured over these past three years in his fight to prove his innocence,” Iacullo said.
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