By Morgan Hughes
The State
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A former Columbia firefighter who sued the city, alleging he was sexually assaulted and harassed at work, has been paid $175,000 to settle the lawsuit, according to the settlement agreement.
The State obtained the settlement agreement through a Freedom of Information request.
The firefighter resigned from the Columbia Fire Department in 2021 after enduring months of sexually charged pranks and harassment from other firefighters at Station 8 on Atlas Road, according to the 2021 suit. An internal investigation into the fire station corroborated that the station had an “over-sexed culture.”
The firefighter’s suit alleged he was held down on his bed while other firefighters tried to remove his clothes, he was cornered in the showers and berated multiple times to show his genitals.
The settlement between the firefighter and the city was signed on Sept. 16. The State is not using the name of the firefighter because he is an alleged victim of sexual assault.
“On behalf of my client, and myself both personally and professionally, we would like to thank the City of Columbia for handling this matter in a professional and emotionally sensitive manner,” wrote attorney P. Jason Reynolds, who was one of the attorneys who represented the firefighter in the suit.
Reynolds thanked Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins and other fire department leadership, as well as the mayor and City Council, writing, “I hope both the City and my client can move forward from this better for enduring the experience and with heads held high for a job well done in resolving this matter appropriately.”
Local attorney Ryan Hicks also represented the firefighter in this case.
The activities at Station 8 came to light after the firefighter walked off the job in April 2021. He reportedly later wrote in a text that he “couldn’t take the sexual crap anymore,” according to media reports from the time.
“It’s one thing to talk,” the firefighter reportedly wrote. “But it’s totally another to snatch someone out of their bed and try and rip their shorts off and other stuff. ... I can’t sit through another dinner/night of this.”
An internal affairs investigation of the fire station in 2021 found that the first shift at Station 8 had a “substantial leadership failure which has fostered an over-sexed culture laden with unacceptable conversation, pranks that far exceed the bounds of professional conduct and offensive touching.”
Five people were ultimately fired from the Fire Department in 2021 after that internal probe, including one battalion chief and two captains. The probe also noted that several other firefighters also requested to be transferred to a different station because of the culture at Station 8.
A spokesperson for the city declined to comment, saying the city does not typically comment on legal settlements.
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