ORLANDO, Fla. — 9 Investigates found out an Orange County Fire Rescue dispatcher accused of having sex with a battalion chief while she was supposed to be answering 911 calls will get to keep her job.
Investigators said Kimberly Noe repeatedly lied about an affair with Battalion Chief Darien Butler who had already willingly confessed.
Their rendezvous sometimes happened at Fire Station 80, occasionally behind fire rescue headquarters.
Investigators describe her as an employee who "inappropriately and excessively" used the agency's emergency computer system to arrange meetings with Butler for sexual behavior, complain and use derogatory language about officers of the department and send messages with racial overtones.
Now will begin serving a 10-day suspension next week.
"I think it's clear now that we take these types of offenses seriously and they engage in these types of behavior at their own peril," said Chief Otto Drozd.
Drozd thinks the punishment fits the offense.
"In this case, we thought the discipline that was given in each of these cases was appropriate for the offense," he said.
Butler was demoted three ranks to engineer and took a $20,000 pay cut. He has since filed a grievance contesting the discipline.
"Certainly, as a chief officer, if not for him being forthright during the investigation, he probably would no longer be employed," said Drozd.
The chief insisted the behavior is not a reflection of the entire agency, but even the mayor acknowledging it is another black eye for the county.
"As in any organization our size, there are people that are going to disappoint you," said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs.
Last month, human resources employee Karen Peters resigned after an intern accused her of sexual harassment and for taking sexually explicit pictures and video of herself while on the job.
"We have training in place for every new employee, we have recurring training. But we have a process right now where we're evaluating if that training is frequent enough and if it is relevant," Jacobs said.
Noe has not filed a grievance contesting her discipline.
Cox Media Group
