A former employee of the Los Pinos Fire Protection District who was the victim of domestic violence perpetrated by a fellow firefighter has been fired after raising concerns about her safety in the firehouse.
Jennifer Sokol says she asked for reasonable accommodations to protect her from her former partner after he was charged with, and later pleaded guilty to, domestic violence.
Sokol filed a complaint with the district on Feb. 24 requesting that the agency mitigate certain things that triggered her post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the assault. The district, which covers 325 square miles in La Plata and Archuleta counties, responded by placing her on leave, citing concerns that her PTSD could affect her job performance.
Sokol’s assailant, Matthew Misquez, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months probation and a 10-day suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to third degree assault. Per the terms his plea agreement, Misquez may not be employed or seek re-employment at Los Pinos fire until the end of his probation.
Misquez resigned his position with the district the morning of March 7, the day he signed the agreement.
On March 14, the district terminated Sokol’s employment on the basis that she had violated district policies.
Sokol has filed a complaint of discrimination against the district with the Colorado Civil Rights Division and the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission for disability and gender discrimination and retaliation. Sokol also filed a complaint with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment under the Public Health Emergency Whistleblower Act alleging that her termination was an act of retaliation after she raised “reasonable concerns” that the workplace was unsafe.
Fire Chief Tony Harwig did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The department also denied a request made under the Colorado Open Records Act to examine a copy of Sokol’s complaint. The Durango Herald was able to access the complaint through alternative channels.
The charges against Misquez stem from an August 2021 dispute between the two firefighters in which Misquez grew angry and violent. According to an email from Misquez to the Herald, the district reorganized their working shifts in December 2021, unrelated to the assault, which had not yet been reported. The result of the reorganization was that Sokol and Misquez no longer worked side by side. However, the two continued to work out of the same firehouse.
In December 2022, over a year after the incident, Sokol worked up the courage to make a report to law enforcement and her employer.
On Jan. 4, the District Attorney’s Office charged Misquez with criminal mischief, third-degree assault and obstruction of a telephone or telegraph service. By that point, leadership at Los Pinos fire had made arrangements to ensure that Misquez and Sokol did not come into contact with one another during shift changes.
According to a formal complaint Sokal filed with the district on Feb. 24, Sokol continued to feel that her safety was threatened because Misquez retained 24-hour access to the building, her personal protective equipment and her schedule.
“For a female victim of domestic violence, providing this information to a former attacker is terrifying,” the complaint reads. “So long as Misquez keeps his job, his access codes and access to the schedule, my health and safety are at risk.”
Misquez and his defense attorney, Heather Little, have pushed back against the notion that he posed any actual threat to Sokol. Misquez scored a “0” on the Domestic Violence Screening Instrument, indicating he had “low to moderate risk for future acts of domestic violence.” An assessment by the probation office found he required the minimum level of supervision.
However, Sokol continued to suffer from diagnosed PTSD which, according to her health care professional, was “triggered by exposure to assailant or risk of exposure.”
In her Feb. 24 complaint to the district, Sokol informed Chief Harwig of this diagnosis and stated “this disability does not affect my ability to perform the essential functions of my job or to work my normal schedule.”
She alleged that the district had violated its own policies by not investigating Sokol’s reports of Misquez’s behavior and by failing to place him on administrative leave while doing so.
Sokol presented the district with three options for “reasonable accommodations” to address her fears, including one requesting that the district revoke Misquez’s access to her schedule.
The next day, Feb. 25, Harwig responded with a letter informing Sokol that she had been placed on paid leave.
“Because your communication identified a diagnosis that you had not previously identified and because your provided ideas for your accommodation, the District needs to obtain more information,” the letter read.
Sokol’s leave was to last until her medical practitioner completed a questionnaire regarding her fitness for duty and the district had a chance to analyze the information.
On March 7, the day that Misquez pleaded guilty and resigned his position at Los Pinos fire, Sokol submitted a copy of the questionnaire that had been completed by her health care provider.
“My patient has no limitations to do her job functions as long as she is not exposed to her accused assailant,” the evaluation reads.
A letter from Sokol’s certified nurse practitioner submitted to Los Pinos fire on March 9 said that given Misquez’s resignation, “no additional accommodations for my patients (sic) PTSD will be necessary.”
On March 14, Sokol was called into a meeting and fired.
According to the complaint filed with the state Department of Labor and Employment, Sokol was informed that she violated district policies governing professional conduct, courtesy to members and disciplinary rules. She said the letter made no mention of her PTSD.
“The letter described that I ‘came to work to take naps,’ ‘was openly combative to receiving training and coaching,’ and that my co-workers find me ‘lackadaisical’ and untrustworthy,” the complaint reads.
Sokol said this was the first time she had ever received a negative review of her performance. In 2020, she and Misquez received awards for a heroic lifesaving rescue of a man who had fallen into a sewage tank.
She also said that Harwig and her captain, Kevin Griego, had repeatedly encouraged her to complete the requisite training for promotion and she was in the process of doing so at the time of her termination.
“I loved my job and excelled at it and I was on a path for promotion until I reported assault and domestic violence and then I was fired,” she said in an interview with the Herald.
Investigations by state agencies into her allegations of wrongful termination and discrimination are ongoing, but could take several years before the matter is settled. Sokol can file a lawsuit against the district only if the state Civil Rights Division finds probable cause of discrimination.
In a victim impact statement, Sokol lamented the fact that the terms of a plea agreement no longer benefit her.
Misquez, too, said the result is unfortunate.
“I have moved on with my career, and the fact that neither of us work there now is kind of a disservice to the community,” he said in an interview with the Herald after his sentencing. “... I’m taking the steps and have for the last two years to be the healthiest individual I can.”
He has accepted a job as a firefighter at another department, he said.
Sokol said firefighting was her passion, and she has yet to find another job in the field.
“It is a devastating, massive life event to be fired from a job that you love, that you planned to be at for the next 15, 20 years,” she said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
