It’s 2022! Why are the Chiefs and Human Resources in these fire departments continuing to allow a culture that is not inclusive? When a woman or minority goes to the overhead or HR with a complaint about bullying they are told not to complain. This “suck it up” culture is encouraged and accepted in the fire service. The board of directors continues to turn a blind eye looking out for their own interests and political status. The good old boys club culture needs to stop now! You can help. Share this petition and reach out to your friends and your community and help us fight this cause. The future of women who want to pursue these predominantly male dominated jobs will never change if the community doesn’t step in. We are counting on your help.
Desiree Horton was the first full-time female helicopter pilot in the history of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), an agency with only around 2% women firefighters. She was hired in 2019, and fired in 2020.
In June of 2021, she filed a lawsuit against OCFA seeking her job back, and stating that her termination was sex discrimination. The lawsuit is ongoing.
Horton has over 32 years of experience as a pilot, having worked as an aerial reporter for various Southern California news stations, and for over 17 years as an aerial firefighter. In 2019, she joined the OCFA, working out of Station 41 at the Fullerton Airport. She thought it would be her dream job.
According to the lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court, during Horton’s time at the OCFA, she was held to unfair and higher standards than her male counterparts, deprived of training opportunities offered to the male fire pilots, unfairly evaluated without proper training and often with little or no advance notice, lied to about the conditions of her passing probation, and forced to work in a hostile environment in which she was ignored, undermined, disrespected, disparaged, and made to feel as though she was incompetent.
The lawsuit states, “the OCFA failed Ms. Horton after her one-year probationary period and without the required one-year evaluation flight, wrongfully claiming her performance was ‘sub standard’ and that she was essentially untrainable.”
The Observer reached out to OCFA for their side of the story, but a spokesperson said they were unable to comment on ongoing litigation.
Horton, her lawyers, and other advocates held a virtual press conference back in June, in which they explained the case.
“It was such an honor and a privilege to serve Orange County as a first responder, but OCFA didn’t see it that way,” Horton said. “I was set up to fail and I was never given the opportunity to succeed. It was clear to me that women weren’t wanted at OCFA.”
Lauren Andrade, a fire captain at OCFA, supports Horton in her fight to get her job back and to challenge the culture of the organization.
“I wish I could sit here today and say this is the first I’d heard of a probationary employee being discriminated against for their sex or race, but unfortunately that’s far from the truth,” Andrade said at the press conference. “OCFA has a pattern of discrimination against underrepresented groups. Either they’re weeded out in the hiring process, or they’re fired during their probationary year.”
“17 of our 77 fire stations currently don’t have women’s restrooms or shower facilities to accommodate a dual gender workforce,” Andrade said. “We have no women chief officers, and up until Desiree we had no women assigned full time to our Air Operations division.”
Jenna Rangel, an attorney representing Horton, said that although Horton had more experience than her male colleagues, “because there was no objective metrics that could be applied equally to all fire pilots, the OCFA was able to hold Desiree to higher standards than the men, and to terminate her by wrongfully claiming her performance was sub-standard.”
“People have asked me why I’m doing this. The answer is simple—I want my job back. Let me fly,” Horton said. “And I want the OCFA to be a changed department, one in which women and underrepresented groups are given the fair shake we deserve.”
Fire pilots like Desiree are tasked with transporting firefighters to the front lines, aerial firefighting with precise water drops while hovering at low levels above the blaze, and engaging in search and rescue missions.
Friends and supporters of Horton gathered outside the Orange County Fire Authority Station 41 at the Fullerton Airport on August 28, 2021 to protest her firing by OCFA. Even more supporters showed up on September 23, 2021 OCFA Board of Trustees meeting at the Regional Fire Operations and Training Center Board Room 1 Fire Authority Road in Irvine and spoke publicly before the board of directors. You can watch multiple videos from two board meetings where the public has expressed their concerns to OCFA.
Most recent board meeting with public speakers regarding OCFA and their treatment of women. https://vimeo.com/671192996
Help reinstate veteran Fire Pilot Desiree Horton who was wrongfully terminated by Orange County Fire Authority.
Orange County Fire Authority continues to waste taxpayers millions in unnecessary litigation due to a toxic and discriminatory culture that continues to be tolerated by the department and it’s leaders. OCFA has a history of discrimination lawsuits.
FROM SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA-
“Being hired into the OCFA Air Operations division was a dream come true for Ms. Horton. After applying and being denied the opportunity countless times, Ms. Horton finally got her chance when the OCFA’s new Fire Chief, Brian Fennessy, decided it was time for the OCFA to have its first female fire pilot. Others at OCFA, however, did not agree and made sure Ms. Horton’s opportunity was short-lived.
During Ms. Horton’s time at the OCFA, she was unfairly and discriminatorily scrutinized by the male pilots, crew chiefs, and helicopter technicians, held to unfair and/or higher standards than her male counterparts, deprived of training opportunities offered to the male fire pilots, unfairly evaluated without proper training and often with little or no advance notice, lied to about the conditions of her passing probation, and forced to work in a hostile environment in which Ms. Horton was ignored, undermined, disrespected, disparaged, and made to feel as though she was incompetent, all because Ms. Horton was a woman in a place believed to be a man’s world. And despite her nearly 30 years as a helicopter pilot, over 9,000 hours of helicopter flight time, 16 years of aerial firefighting experience (more than any of her male colleagues at the OCFA), and glowing reviews from her former employers and firefighting colleagues, the OCFA failed Ms.Horton after her one-year probationary period and without the required one-year evaluation flight, wrongfully claiming her performance was “sub-standard” and that she was essentially untrainable. In doing so, the OCFA robbed Ms. Horton of her dream job, caused her to suffer a loss of professional reputation, and sent a message that women are not wanted at the OCFA and need not apply. But Ms. Horton is a trailblazer and, as she has done her entire career, is fighting back for the equal treatment she and other female pilots deserve.”
Along with signing this petition if you would like to do more you are encouraged to write the board of directors at OCFA and tell them how you feel and ask them was anyone paying attention last year? The whole world watched as Americans gathered, protested, even burned cities to the ground in the name of systemic discrimination. Yet here we are a year later, and Orange County Fire Authority is spending an immense amount of taxpayer dollars to defend systemic discrimination in the workplace. Do the taxpayers know? Discrimination in the workplace, or anyplace for that matter, is not something that should be taken lightly. Every person in this country should be treated equally and have an equal shot at employment regardless of gender, race, or religion. Desiree Horton deserves to be reinstated at Orange County Fire Authority. Which side of the history books will you be on?
https://ocfa.org/AboutUs/BoardOfDirectors.aspx
