The Three Rivers News Dispatch issued its first edition on August 17, 2021. Since then, it has reported on area events and government meetings in North Bend, Addyston, Cleves, and Miami Township. The subscriptions are free, and the number of registered subscribers has grown to over 1,000. The TRND also accepts no advertising fees. It encourages local businesses to submit advertisements by email.

July 1, 2023

Miami Township Fire Chief Paid Administrative Leave Reaches 110 Days- Costs Exceed $100,000

Trustee Blanton Tells Audience "We Are Close"

Miami Township resident Jason Hughes asked the Trustees how much longer it would be before we know if Chief Lacey is coming back, and if he is not, what was the backup plan at last Wednesday's Trustee meeting. Mr. Blanton answered, "All I can say is that we are close."

While Mr. Blanton's answered Mr. Hughes's question, he could have told the audience more clearly what close means. This meeting provided no more answers than past special or regular meetings held since March 10, 2023.

Chief Lacey and Lt. Shelly Lacey have been on paid leave for 110 days, and Miami Township citizens have no better idea about what happened than they did in March. One thing is certain: the taxpayers will be footing the bills. Today the Three Rivers News Dispatch sent the Miami Township Trustees public records request about how much it has cost residents through June 23, 2023. We have also asked the township to provide us with the final cost for the services offered by Alex Ewing's Frost Brown and Todd when a decision is made, and the affair has ended.

A" Public Records Request" sent on Monday to Miami Township officials is below. The cost to taxpayers for Laceys' paid administrative leave and legal costs to the township is approximately $101,000.

Fiscal Officer/Trustees Respond Transparently to Public Records Request

Miami Township Fiscal Officer Cindy Oser answered our request on Tuesday, June 27, 2023. The chart below shows that while on paid administrative leave Miami Township continued to pay Lacey's gross wages of $55,117.13, retirement payments of $14,281.78,

and $10,400 for dental and hospitalization insurance. The total cost of compensation for Brien and Shelly Lacey has been $80,798.13. This information comes from the information contained in the chart found below and a separate email from Mrs. Oser for dental and health care insurance.

Township Legal Costs for Lacey Investigation

Miami Township legal advisor Alex Ewing recommended Ashbrooke, Brooke, and Kresge, LLC from Frost, Brown, Brown, and Todd to conduct an independent investigation after Lt. Shelly Lacey filed a complaint that the Miami Township Trustees had failed to investigate her allegations of being sexually harassed. The Laceys were placed on administrative leave following her complaint and have remained on paid leave since March 10, 2023. Our subscribers can read our report on the report by clicking on this link: https://conta.cc/3Cd8ZX4

Miami Township paid Ashbrooke, Byrne, and Kresge LLC $19,362 for their investigation. That investigation was leaked to Fox 19 and made no recommendation for disciplinary action against Chief Lacey or Lt. Lacey. Frost Brown and Todd were also paid $2745.00 through March 29, 2023, for its services related to the Laceys.

I've included for you the information on the independent investigators below.

Who Leaked Fire Chief Report to Channel 19

The Scope of the Report

Miami Township residents still do not know why Chief Lacey was placed on administrative or how Fox 19 received a "Confidential and Privileged" report that township residents paid Ashbrooke, Byrne, and Kresge LLC $19,362 to investigate. The excerpt below shows who received the report, but no one has admitted to leaking it. According to the report, the scope of the report was limited to an internal investigation of the allegations within the Complaint, which include sexual discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, hostile work environment, and possible racial harassment claim regarding a recent promotion decision within the fire department that concerned Lacey’s son-in-law.

Clues Revealed In Leaked Documents

The excerpt below is from the complaint filed by Lt. Lacey and sent to the trustees on February 28. 2023. This document is only available to the Three Rivers News Dispatch due to it being leaked to Fox 19. Two former employees are mentioned, Kaylee Haggard and Jada Murphy. The leaked report provided few details about Kaylee Haggard but did provide extensive information involving Jada Murphy and Scott Hinson; however, no details were revealed about her alleged slander against the Laceys.

Jada Murphy and Scott Hinson

According to documents leaked to Fox 19, Chief Lacey overheard a conversation about an inappropriate text message sent from Lt. Hinson to Miami Township Firefighter Jada Murphy. Ms. Murphy was brought into a meeting on August 19, 2022, with Asst. Chief Rob Street asked about the incident. His notes indicate that Jada did not see Hinson's text as inappropriate, but her boyfriend did. (Murphy is pictured to the right.)

On August 22, 2022, Lt. Scott Hinson was brought into a meeting with Chief Lacey and Asst Chief Street. The notes from that meeting show that Lt. Hinson admitted his message was inappropriate. A second meeting was held with Murphy on September 15, 2023, about a change in attitude at work. Based on the notes provided, Jada's issues appeared with Lt. Lacey rather than Lt. Hinson.

Chief Lacey and Asst. Chief Street met with Lt. Hinson again on September 20, 2023, about a text sent to Mrs. Hinson from a phone number she did not recognize. The notes show that the message said, "Your husband has been sending inappropriate comments to my girlfriend for ten months."

Upon further questioning Hinson's relationship with Murphy, he described it as not having had any sexual contact, and his text messages were not about sex. According to Street's notes, Hinson admitted to making statements, "Do you miss me?" and "Do you want to kiss me.?" He also admitted to walking down the hall and giving her hugs. Hinson also claimed that the comments and text messages went both ways.

Township records show that Jada Murphy worked her last shift for the Miami Township Fire Department on September 16, 2022. Murphy sent the township a letter of resignation on October 3, 2022, effective October 17, 2022.

Lt. Hinson was placed on administrative leave on October 19, 2023, and resigned on November 7, 2023. (There will be an article based on leaked documents in the next edition of the Three Rivers News Dispatch about how Miami Township secured the resignation of Lt. Hinson.)

Lacey EEOC and Jimenez OCRC Complaints Remain Outstanding

The legal findings by Ms. Byrne seem to protect the township against Lt. Lacey's allegation that the township failed to investigate her claim that she was sexually harassed and that her son-in-law Tomas Bilison- Jimenez, was racially discriminated against when he was not promoted within the Miami Township Fire Department after receiving the highest score; however, complaints filed against the township with the EEOC and OCRC have not been completed.

Ms. Byrne also stated in the report: "Also relevant from a legal liability standpoint is the timing of the conduct. Generally speaking, under federal law, an aggrieved employee has 300 days from the alleged discriminatory act or practice to file a charge of discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). Under Ohio law (Chapter 4112), charges of discrimination filed with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (“OCRC”) must be filed within two years of the alleged discriminatory practice. Once a charge is filed with the EEOC or the OCRC, the investigating agency may initiate a confidential investigation into the charge allegations; following its investigation, it will make a determination whether there is probable cause of a discriminatory act or practice."

Lt. Lacey notified the township on February 28, 2023, about filing an EEOC complaint, and the EEOC did not interview her until June 6, 2023. The results of her complaint are pending.

Peeling Back the Layers of the Onion

A Three Rivers News Dispatch Editorial Opinion

Chapter 1

Yesterday, the Miami Township Trustees announced that they would hold another Special Meeting on Monday, July 3, 2023, at 5 p.m. The purpose of the meeting is to hold an executive session to consider the employment of a public employee and the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee (ORC 121.22 (G)(1). The notice also states that possible action may follow.

In “My View,” the “Trustees” will decide Miami Township Fire Chief Brien Lacey’s fate this Monday. The problem is that politicians often find themselves painting themselves into a corner with no escape plan. This leaves them with very few options when things do not go as planned. They are either forced to either stick to their guns and risk alienating their supporters or backtrack and lose credibility with the public. So, I believe it is a safe bet that our Trustees find themselves in that same boat, and after spending over $100,000, they will either decide to fire Chief Lacey or demote him and hope for the best!

Regardless of what the Miami Township Trustees decide, in my view, Miami Township residents should not just accept their decision without questioning the serious flaws in the report prepared by Ashbrooke, Byrne, and Kresge, LLC. Here are my reasons why"!

(1) In my view, The “Independent Investigation” did its job well if its only goal was to protect Miami Township against Lt. Lacey’s allegations that the township failed to investigate her claims about being sexually harassed and allowed a hostile work environment to exist. There is no question in mind that was the investigation's primary purpose.

(2) The “Independent Investigation” admittedly was hampered by a split within the department between pro-Lacey members, many of whom are related to the Laceys, and an anti-Lacey group who has made claims of favoritism and poor leadership skills of Lt. Shelly Lacey. Without saying so, I think the independent report sided with the anti-Lacey camp at nearly every point. In my view, the report was nothing more than a narrative of he said this; she said that! It proved very"little.

On page 11 of the report, the “Independent Investigator” stated: “ I write additionally to note that during the course of our interviews with the firefighters, it became apparent that Lacey is not well-liked as a lieutenant, but is generally respected as a firefighter. The firefighters who worked on her unit uniformly reported that they knew she would rather be riding with them than in the command truck.”

This statement is just one of many made within the report that Byrne'sstees should have been questioned. Ms. Byrne’s statement implies that she or her co-investigator interviewed Miami Township Firefighters who work daily with Lt. Lacey’s unit. However, Tanner Maltbie, Chris Freppon, and Tyler Ruhe, who actually are part of her unit, do not appear in her exhaustive list of people that were interviewed for her 19-page treatise.

Based on Ms. Byrne's failure to interview Maltbie, Freppon, and Ruhe, it appears she was not interested in impeaching damaging firefighter testimony against Lt. Lacey.

(3) In her report, Ms. Byrne was also quick to minimize Lt. Lacey's complaint against the Township for failing to correct the behaviors of Firefighters Nick Gemmell, Paul Montovan, and others for creating a "hostile work environment" by stating in the following on pages 9 and 10:

"Lacey also alleges that the Township does not have "a policy or employee directions as to how or who to make a claim of this nature." In the context of her statement, I interpret her statement to mean a discrimination or harassment complaint. The Township does have a non[1]discrimination policy, and the MTFD has a Professional Conduct Rule against harassment and workplace violence. Neither the policy nor the rule specifies to whom employees should make complaints. However, as a paramilitary organization, firefighters are expected to follow the chain of command. Here, when Lacey did follow the chain of command by filing her Complaint with Assistant Chief Street, it was "sent up the chain" to the Township Administrator, who reported it to the Trustees, who took action to investigate her claims. The Township Administrator did not distribute the policies to all Township employees and instead relied on the department heads to communicate with their employees. The Chief failed to distribute the Township non-discrimination policy to the fire department employees."

Please remember that Ms. Byrne mentions that the Township has a discrimination policy. That policy was voted on November 2, 2022, and their video from that meeting, which is of inferior quality, proves that the policies were not explained or read publicly. Mr. Reid was absent from the meeting, and there was no directive from the Trustees on how they wanted the policies distributed. Chief Lacey was also present for the meeting; however, he was a subordinate of Mr. Reid, so I believe it was Mr. Reid's responsibility to ensure that the policies were distributed.

In my view, Ms. Byrne’s narrative was a feeble attempt to shift blame away from Miami Township Administrator Dan Reid, who was supposed to be operating the day-to-day operations of Miami Township, and assign blame to Lt. Lacey, Chief Lacey, and Asst. Chief Rob Street. Until the Township Trustees, who are Mr. Reid’s bosses, hold him accountable for his failure to distribute the policies and secure every department head’s dated signature that they have received and understand the policies, the Trustees have no business holding anyone else responsible for failing to distribute them to the members of their departments.

(4) Lastly, for this editorial, while Ms. Byrne mentions that there are no set procedures for reporting sexual harassment, she does not address the township's failure to provide sexual harassment training for every department. Yet, she goes to great length in her report on pages 14-16 explaining Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the EEOC.

Ms. Byrne also failed to mention the U.S. Supreme Court Case Kolstad V American Dental Association, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Swifton v Potomac, and other court cases that are directly applicable to Miami Township's non-discrimination policy, and the sexual harassment allegations made by Lt. Lacey. Those cases show that employers are best protected against allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination suits come from employers making “good faith efforts to prevent sexual harassment and discrimination” by educating their employees about Title VII’s prohibitions.

Over the next few months, there will be a series of editorials written about the information written in Ms. Byrne’s report, information in the Fox 19 report associated with leaked documents attached to her report, other sources, and the results of a series of public records requests made to Mr. Reid, That series of editorials is titled “Peeling Back the Layers of the Onion." Stay tuned! This is only Chapter 1!