Fired Westside fire chief loses human rights case against regional district

A former Central Okanagan fire chief, who was suspended for giving misleading information to the media and later fired, has lost a BC Human Rights Tribunal case where he argued the Regional District discriminated against him because of his PTSD.

According to a recently published June 30 BC Human Rights Tribunal decision, former North Westside Fire Rescue fire chief Jason Satterthwaite claimed his post-traumatic stress disorder was a factor in his suspension and later termination by the Regional District of Central Okanagan and its former manager Ross Kotscherofsk.

However, the Tribunal ruled he’d provided “scant” evidence for how his PTSD was a factor in getting fired.

“Mr. Satterthwaite has not explained how, if at all, his PTSD contributed to the conduct for which he was suspended,” the Tribunal ruled.

The decision said in 2006, Satterthwaite became an on-call firefighter with the Regional District’s North Westside Fire Rescue organization and in 2015 became the on-call fire chief.

In May 2020, Satterthwaite was suspended.

“He withheld pertinent information from the (Regional) District about its operations; he intentionally disseminated false and misleading information about the employer’s operations to the news media, and to (Regional) District B’s firefighters by email and social media posts, and, he failed to discipline a firefighter who disseminated false and misleading information about the (Regional) District’s operations to the media,” the decision read.

The decision didn’t say what he said to the media, or how and why it was misleading.

In a story with Castanet in April 2020 – one month before he was suspended – Satterthwaite and Lieut. Rob Gajda said they were worried about bringing COVID-19 back to their families and complained the Regional District of Central Okanagan had refused the offer of an isolation house from a member of the public. The article went on to say the Regional District was looking into using the isolation house.

Lieut. Rob Gajda was also suspended, but was not a part of the Human Rights Tribunal case.

The firefighters’ suspensions caused local uproar with North Westside residents holding a rally demanding answers. Another news story says seven paid-on-call firefighters handed in their pagers in protest of the suspensions.

Following Satterthwaite’s suspension, he was barred from doing any firefighting duties or going to the firehall.

His suspension letter says he would remain suspended until he “demonstrated a willingness to accept and embrace the (Regional) District’s managerial authority, to comply with policies and procedures, and to abide by the established chain of command.”

Days after the suspension, Satterthwaite filed a complaint with WorkSafeBC, saying he’d been suspended for raising an occupational health and safety concern. 

The complaint failed.

“The (Regional) District’s decision to suspend him ‘was not in any way related to, or tainted by, the worker’s participation in protected activities, but was solely due to his conduct and poor judgment, particularly in his capacity as fire chief,” the WorkSafeBC file concluded.

He filed another WorkSafeBC claim saying that his work as a firefighter and experiencing traumatic events had given him PTSD. He had a psychological assessment and formal diagnosis and WorkSafeBC accepted the claim.

Six months after his suspension, Satterthwaite was first at the scene of a vehicle incident and intervened.

The intervention was a breach of his suspension, and he was promptly fired.

The decision gave an insight into the situation at the fire hall at the time.

In 2019, he filed a bullying and harassment complaint through WorkSafeBC and that he had a “challenging” time with Regional District management.

The decision said he felt intimidated while the investigation was underway, and two other firefighters had been falsely accused of something. There were unresolved tensions at work, and he felt a huge amount of stress.

Shortly after his suspension he called a crisis line struggling with PTSD. He had flashbacks and “broke down crying” after kayaking in an area where previously he had tried to save someone who had drowned.

Satterthwaite argued his PTSD was connected to why the Regional District fired him.

The Tribunal didn’t buy it.

“Mr. Satterthwaite has not explained how or if his PTSD contributed to his comments to the media and other firefighters about the (Regional) District’s operations,” the Tribunal ruled. “There is no reasonable prospect Mr. Satterthwaite will prove the conduct that resulted in his suspension was connected to his PTSD.”

Both parties have different versions of what happened when Satterthwaite was first on the scene of the vehicle incident, but regardless, the Tribunal ruled his firing over this incident wasn’t connected to his PTSD.

Ultimately, the Tribunal dismissed his case.