One week after dozens of allegations of systemic workplace harassment within the London Fire Department came to light, the city's fire chief is no longer on the job.
City officials announced Monday morning that John Kobarda is retiring from the position, effective immediately.
“We thank the chief for the many years of dedicated service he has provided to London and to our fire department,” City Manager Martin Hayward said in a statement. “Chief Kobarda was instrumental in helping to achieve a settlement for the latest contract with the fire association. Under his leadership, the department has achieved one of the lowest response times in the country and the department has the proud record of significantly reducing the number of residential fires each year.”
Kobarda has been with the department for 27 years and was appointed chief in 2004. During his time there he also served as the president of the London Professional Fire Fighters Association.
“Since the day I joined the department, my focus has been on protecting and serving our community. As many will know, my plan was to retire this year. It has always been my desire to serve the best interests of the fire service and the community. With that in mind, I have decided that I will be stepping down today," said Kobarda . "It has been my honour and privilege to serve London both as a member and as chief of the fire department. ”
Since March 8, dozens of municipal employees, many from the fire department, shared accounts of harassment, abuse, and retaliation in the workplace with Megan Walker, head of the London Abused Women's Centre. Many of the complaints outlined a culture of fear in the department that became so bad for some that they chose to quit. Others described stress and anxiety that brought them to tears on a daily basis.
Walker later publicly released three letters written by firefighters that alleged specific experiences of workplace bullying from superiors, including Kobarda, and punitive actions taken against those who supported targeted colleagues. All of the harassment claims were relayed to Mayor Matt Brown by Walker. That prompted a special two-hour closed door meeting of city council last Monday. Council would only state that "progress had been made" during the meeting. Employee privacy was cited as the reason why city officials would not publicly address any specific complaints.
Walker reacted to news of Kobarda's retirement over Twitter.
"@CityofLdnOnt Fire Chief John Kobarda gone. Firefighters who faced retaliation for supporting victims of harassment have been reinstated. One step towards cleaning a toxic/unsafe workplace. Hope this direction continues. Thank you to all who so courageous stepped forward," tweeted Walker.
The London Professional Fire Fighters Association was also quick to release a statement on Kobarda's sudden retirement.
"Our association has only recently come to know of the announcement of Chief John Kobarda's retirement. As we would do with any retiring employee of the Corporation, we wish Chief Kobarda a long, happy and healthy one," the association posted to social media.
The statement went on to say that the association could not comment on the timing and circumstances of the fire chief's retirement.
"We chose rather to focus on moving forward and making every effort to affect change where there needs to be change, and to work together with the management leadership team to make improvements where we can, and to continue to preserve and protect a safe and supportive work environment for our employees," said the association.
Lori Hamer has been appointed acting fire chief while the department begins the process of looking for a permanent replacement.
