D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe denies sex harassment accusations from previous job. News4’s Darcy Spencer reports.
D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe will appear at a District hearing Wednesday to discuss his agency's performance.
The meeting, held in the Wilson Building, is a routine oversight review of Fire and EMS service.
However, it comes one day after the Washington Times released a story alleging an abbreviated review process for Ellerbe when he was made chief in 2011.
The Times writes:
Mayor Vincent C. Gray hired and the D.C. Council confirmed Kenneth Ellerbe to head the District’s fire department without ever requesting a copy of his personnel file from the chief’s former employer in Sarasota County, Fla. — a file that contained a complaint of sexual harassment.
The Times story says no one from Vince Gray's staff or the City Council committee charged with vetting agency nominees requested a copy of Ellerbe's personnel file from Sarasota County, where he headed the fire department for 16 months prior to becoming chief in D.C.
The Times said paperwork made public via a Freedom of Information document a complaint against Ellerbe in which a female employee accused him of leering at her.
