拉斐特(LA)交火er Won’t Get Job Back After Being Fired for Refusing Orders to Wear a Mask

Katie Gagliano

The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.

(MCT)

Apr. 13—The Lafayette (LA) Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board voted unanimously Wednesday to uphold the termination of a Lafayette firefighter who was fired after repeatedly refusing orders to wear a mask during a training event.

Kevin Larriviere, a former captain with the Lafayette Fire Department, was fired on Aug. 27. Larriviere’s termination stemmed from an incident on Aug. 10 where he refused to wear a face mask at a required training at the Lafayette Fire Training Center on North Dugas Road after being asked by more than one supervising officer.

The firing was based on issues of insubordination and 10 other policy areas that Larriviere was in violation of by failing to comply with repeated direct orders, fire officials said.

Attorney Daniel Landry, representing Larriviere, argued there were underlying circumstances of stress and anxiety-related struggles that influenced his client’s behavior that should have been considered when Fire Chief Robert Benoit made his determination to fire Larriviere, and could have possibly yielded a lesser punishment.

Michael Corry, representing the fire department and city-parish, countered that those issues were not raised in full during Larriviere’s hearing process and any medical treatment he received after his termination didn’t apply.

The board agreed Benoit acted in good faith and with just cause in firing Larriviere.

On Aug. 10, Larriviere and other firefighters were scheduled to attend a training on a new employee time entry system. The training center had a masking requirement in place, based on Gov. John Bel Edwards’ state mandate, noting that firefighters would need to wear masks when entering and walking around the building but could remove them while at their seats in the classroom, Training Chief Troy Gauthier said.

Larriviere refused to wear a mask and Gauthier, as the center leader, asked him to put one on. He repeatedly refused and was asked to step outside. His direct supervisor, district chief Mark Breaux, was asked by Benoit to also order Larriviere to wear a mask, which he again declined.

Larriviere testified that day he was feeling sadness, anger and frustration over a host of things, including the death of a car crash victim he’d assisted two days prior and home life stressors. In the months prior to the August mask incident, he’d had two anxiety attacks that required hospital trips, he said.

He felt mask wearing had become “ridiculous” and was frustrated at seeing things like school children wearing masks on playgrounds in the community.

He told his superiors he was refusing to wear the mask on religious and medical grounds, without getting into specifics about his medical or religious reasons.

“I was done with the mask mandates. I was done with masks,” he said.

When questioned, Larriviere said he did not have issues wearing required full-face masks when entering a burning building or donning masks during certain medical calls.

Larriviere was then brought to the department’s central fire station, where he met with several additional department leaders, including Benoit. Benoit said he was willing to meet Larriviere halfway, in the apparatus room where fire trucks are kept, after the captain refused to wear a mask in the station’s main office space.

Benoit said during their discussion it became clear he wasn’t willing to change his position. At one point, the captain said he told Benoit and others present that since April 2020 he had not strictly followed the department’s masking policy.

The fire chief said Larriviere could have filed a grievance with Lafayette Consolidated Government’s human resources department if he had an issue with mask wearing. Rick Zeno, human resources manager, testified he did not receive a grievance from Larriviere.

At least six fire department officials, including Benoit, said they attempted to reason with Larriviere and de-escalate the situation, both in an official capacity and through personal appeals. Multiple said that Larriviere did not have a history of disobedience and was not acting like himself.

The former LFD firefighter said he wishes he had shared more about his history of anxiety attacks and the stressors in his life with his superiors. He said he was not his best on Aug. 10 and should have called in sick.

Larriviere was put on administrative leave with pay until a pre-disciplinary hearing was held, after which he was terminated.

Benoit said the decision to terminate all boiled down to maintaining order within the department and ensuring all team members can be relied on to follow orders.

“就我而言,作为主要的,我有285员工佤邦tching this and they’re watching to see if this individual will just be able to refuse orders from their supervisor. We can’t have that. If you can’t do what we ask you to do in a normal environment, how are we going to expect you to do something when everything is falling apart?,” Benoit said.