November 8 – A Bigfork Fire Department lieutenant faces sexual harassment allegations against female colleagues.
The Bigfork Fire District held a due process meeting Monday for Lt. Sean Reffner about the allegations at Bigfork High School. Reffner, a member of the Bigfork Fire Department since April 2021, was administratively suspended on September 18 after officials reportedly received 20 allegations of misconduct.
Six of the allegations emerged as a result of an investigation. The remaining allegations fell by the wayside due to a lack of substantial evidence.
Reffner waived his right to privacy on Monday, allowing the hearing to remain open to the public.
“Since I started at Bigfork, I have an exemplary track record of holding people accountable and helping the department grow. And this paints me as almost a predator…” Reffner said of the allegations. .
On June 28, Reffner was accused of making sexual comments and hand gestures to a female paramedic student at Flathead Valley Community College, suggesting she touch the genitals of two male firefighters. The incident was reportedly reported to the university’s Title IX officer, who reportedly questioned the safety of sending students to join Bigfork Fire and damaged the organization’s reputation.
Reffner said he used the term “skiing,” a reference to fondling the genitals of two men at the same time, and made a hand gesture, but it was not intended to be sexual toward the student. He also allegedly did not receive a report on the Title IX complaint before it was filed.
“Do I understand that it could have been sexual? [her]? Yes. But why did it take almost three months for her to file a complaint?” Reffner said.
“I have to admit I shouldn’t have made it as a supervisor, it was just the general chatter in the firehouse,” he later added.
In another alleged incident on May 18, Reffner insinuated that a female colleague performed a sex act on her fiancé as they transferred from their personal car to a department car. After allegedly being confronted by the said colleague, Reffner apologized, although the initial interaction remained a violation of policy.
Reffner also allegedly accused a female paramedic and firefighter of having sex with a male volunteer photographer earlier in her career, using graphic language. When confronted about his language and innuendo, she reported that Reffner responded, “Well, if you don’t like our jokes, we don’t want to train with you.”
Multiple employees accused Reffner of using obscene and sexual language in the workplace on a daily basis, which is prohibited under Bigfork Fire District policy. The policy also prohibits harassment directed at an individual because of gender and the use of obscene, indecent or derogatory language or gestures while on duty or in uniform.
While Reffner was suspended, two additional complaints were filed. One alleged that Reffner contacted a department employee and stated that he would “make life miserable” for any employee who made accusations against him. The policy prohibits supervisors from retaliating against employees for filing complaints or participating in a complaint investigation. Reffner also allegedly contacted a department employee and said, “I will burn this [expletive] put down,” referring to the department.
Reffner alleged that other Bigfork Fire employees also used prohibited language while on duty, an allegation he repeated during the due process hearing, which led to a new misconduct charge because, as a lieutenant, Reffner was required to report such violations, and none were documented. .
Reffner argued that others were not investigated for similar comments or actions, claiming he was held to a different standard.
“If all these things are going on, who is the oldest person on duty?” Chairman Dan Elwell asked Reffner during the hearing.
“I was. And I tried to end it without doing any documentation and I followed the policy with verbal reprimands,” Reffner responded.
Reffner was represented by Toby Ballard, service representative for the Seventh District of the International Association of Firefighters, as the union representative.
“The investigation that was done, there were things I saw in it that concerned me,” Ballard said.
Reffner was reportedly not consulted about a number of complaints listed in the findings report, and some of his testimony during the interview process was misinterpreted, making it difficult to mount a defense. There was confusion over the number of charges, as Ballard counted 25 in total.
“The fact that there are so many allegations that people have made against Lt. Reffner that are unfounded is… I don’t know how else to put it, but disturbing. It is almost character assassination at that point when people just file charges without basis,” Ballard said.
Ballard suggested violations were justified, including allegations that were not factually proven, a lack of thorough investigation by the employer, others with the same allegations being treated differently, misconduct caused by employer inaction and failure to consider employment history.
Reffner has never received bad evaluations or disciplinary action before. He allegedly received no sexual harassment training from the department and district policy allows supervisors to issue oral rather than written citations.
Reffner also claimed that he was instructed by Fire Chief Jeremy Patton that he could not contact department employees after his suspension, a violation of union rights.
Confidentiality was also compromised, as others were reportedly previously aware of the charges against Reffner. Ballard reported that a deposition document intended to have witnesses’ names redacted was accidentally sent to him, including their full names.
“My due process has been violated at every step,” Reffner said.
Reffner presented three character witnesses, including two female part-time employees of the department and a male employee who previously faced similar allegations, to bolster his claims. State Sen. Mark Nolan, R-Bigfork, also spoke in his favor during public comment.
“I believe we have to protect ladies, but we also have to protect men. Accusations like these can devastate a family… We need to do our due diligence and get the facts; doing our part so that someone doesn’t get burned for the rest of his life,” Nolan said.
The Bigfork Fire District board voted to make a decision on Reffner’s case until they could individually review the information presented. No date had been set, although Elwell stated that another meeting day would be selected by the end of the week.
Reffner remains administratively suspended with full pay and benefits until a decision is made.
This is the second time sexual harassment allegations have been made against Bigfork Fire Department employees in recent years. The latter case resulted in a complaint being filed in the offending employee’s file.
“I just hope that with the information you receive, you will be open to the idea that there are problems and that they can be corrected. Because that’s really the purpose of us being here: to try to make sure that we’re pushing things in a positive direction,” Ballard told the board.
