On March 19th The State of Forney released news of a second lawsuit that was filed against the City of Forney pertaining to the Forney Fire Department (see https://thestateofforney.com/?p=2981). Since that posting, multiple sources have reached out to me with insight into issues within the Forney Fire Department including low morale, in-fighting, and division between Fire Chief Derek Briggs and his employees. According to those sources, division within the department has become so great that Chief Briggs brought in a Fire Chief from a neighboring city to do an internal investigation into morale within the department and to provide advice on how to lead his employees.
According to those sources the investigator visited the Forney Fire stations, observed the practices and processes of the Forney Fire Department, visited with individual employees, asked questions pertaining to Fire Chief Derek Briggs and the everyday life as a Firefighter in Forney, then provided a report of his findings to Fire Chief Briggs. The State of Forney completed a Public Records request for the full contents of the investigation, as well as the reports of the findings as a result of the investigation. But, Forney Fire Chief Briggs claimed there were no records available. However, prior to my request, I was provided the alleged report pertaining to the investigation.
Among the feedback requested by the investigator included that of Fire Chief Briggs’ leadership, ways in which processes could improve within the department, and perception of the morale within the department. Many of the answers centered around Fire Chief Briggs. Some of the answers given were as follows.
They can’t ask questions without making Chief upset.
Chief calls them overpaid volunteers. This came up many times.
Chief blows his fuse.
They need to be taught instead of being belittled.
Chief’s temper causes lack of approach.
Chief makes statements like “if you want to leave, we will pack your bags.”
Chief has a lot of knee-jerk reactions.
They feel like Chief is doing things to pad his resume, not really for them.
They need Chief to love them.
Also included in the report was feedback on process improvements, better communication, staffing changes, and complaints about fellow Firefighters that were hired or promoted by Fire Chief Briggs. The two lawsuits that have been filed against the City of Forney relating to the Forney Fire Department both pertain to the unlawful termination of employees. One of the lawsuits includes an ex-Firefighter who experienced health issues while on the job and was terminated even after attempting to assume other positions within the department. The other lawsuit pertains to the ex-Deputy Fire Chief who was terminated shortly after allegations of an illegal shift-selling operation within the department that included multiple members of the Fire Department and Forney Firefighter’s Association. These lawsuits and this report may now shed some light on the current state of the Forney Fire Department. Stay tuned as these stories continue to develop.