When a female firefighter scored a choice spot at a station in San Francisco’s Chinatown, she was immediately met with resistance by her new male colleagues, including one who asked her an intimidating question: “Do you know how difficult your time is going to be?”
A document obtained by The Chronicle outlines details from an independent investigation into just how miserable her life was made in the “male-dominated” culture of Station 2 at 1340 Powell St., one of the busiest firehouses in the city. The question presented to the female firefighter before her first shift even began was the start of a systematic harassment campaign intended to drive her out of the firehouse, the investigation concluded.
But the months of harassment she endured resulted in Chief Joanne Hayes-White’s recent decision to reassign the entire command staff away from the station, blaming “deficiencies in leadership” for creating a “hostile work environment based on gender,” according to a separate letter obtained by The Chronicle that was signed by Hayes-White.