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bristol township Ex-assistant fire chief appeals firing
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Steve Craiger, former Bristol Township assistant fire chief, has appealed his Sept. 4 termination by the Bristol Township trustees.
His appeal was filed this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, alleging that township officials failed to follow a number of requirements of Ohio law and that their actions violated Craiger’s due-process rights.
Craiger, who had worked for the department since 1982, was placed on paid administrative leave in January after he was accused of eavesdropping on the conversations of fire department personnel through use of computers.
According to a January press release from the trustees, employees became suspicious that such surveillance was being conducted and reported it to the fire chief and township trustees.
“The preliminary inquiry concluded that there was reason to believe that cameras on several of the Fire Department computers on premises were configured to remotely video and or audio record departmental personnel on premises and that members of the Fire Department had no knowledge of this surveillance,” the press release said.
The appeal alleges that Roger French, the township fire chief, did not prepare the charges against Craiger, that French didn’t file the charges immediately with the township trustees and didn’t serve the charges on Craiger as soon as possible.
Further, one or more of the trustees participated in the investigation against Craiger before an Aug. 15 hearing, which violated Craiger’s due-process rights, the appeal said.
The appeal also accuses the trustees of conducting an illegal meeting to discuss the charges and making an unconstitutional, illegal, arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable decision not supported by substantial and reliable evidence.
Doug Seeman, chairman of the Bristol Township Board of Trustees, said he had no comment on the appeal “at this time” but said the trustees might be issuing a press release on the matter in the coming days.