GPS Tracking Used In Former Vernon Official's Misconduct Case

VERNON, CT — Another harassmernt allegation has emerged regarding a former ranking fire official in Vernon that includes tracking a town vehicle via GPS, eerie text messages and an allegations of retaliation after a lunch date refusal by a member of the public.

The allegations were detailed in disciplinary documents released by town officials after a freedom of information request.

Former acting fire marshal and deputy fire marshal William Call was suspended in July and then fired in December following allegations of lewd behavior and misconduct inside a municipal department. He was also accused of accepting a part-time job with another town against local policy.

On April 14, Call filed a motion with the Connecticut Employment Security Appeals Commission under the claim that the town falsely stated he was fired for "willful" misconduct. The town's response included a detail on another harassment claim made by an employee of a private business, the name of which was redacted from the official documents before their release. The claim was made after the firing, but was added to Call's file because the accusation pits the incident to a time when Call was still employed and in uniform and in a municipal vehicle.

Call is also the former fire chief in town, who stepped aside about four years ago amid complaints about his role. He stayed on with the fire marshal's office. He is credited with decades of service to the town.

The disciplimary documents contain a complaint from a woman who works in the office of a local business, the name of which was redacted by town officials.

The woman said that Call paid an unannounced visit to her office in the fall. Call was known to be a fan of good food and was talking about the menu at a luncheon he had attended, which led to him to ask the woman out to lunch, according to the complaint. When the woman declined, "Mr. Call's demeanor changed to anger," after which he asked to use the rest room and then left, according to the complaint.

Call came back to the business with a detailed list of violations at the property, termed in the complaint as potentially retaliatory, according to testimony outlined in the documents.

According to the complaint, another worker told the woman that he had observed Call over the subsequent two days sitting in his town vehicle on the property.

Call returned to the business the following week, twice driving through the parking lot before entering the office and asking the woman if he could come behind the counter according to the complaint. The woman said she then left the immediate area to another part of the building, according to the complaint.

She began fearing that Call was "stalking" her and in a text message to a colleague on Oct. 23, said, "... he is not right ... He's off and I do not want to be alone with him ... I don't want to be strarred in a Lifetime movie, 'Stalking of a Fire Marshal.'" The text message is included in the complaint.

According to the complaint, the woman said there was no more contact with Call.

In the documents, town officials said two other workers corroborated the woman's claims, and a review of the town vehicle's global positioning data backs up the claims to the minute.

Call has filed what town officials are calling an "unemployment appeal" and he claims he did not willingly violate town policy by taking a part-time, per diem position with the town of Bolton because he was unaware he needed permission from the town administrator to pursue any outside employment while maintaining his position with Vernon.

Town officials said in official documents that he failed to mention other grou nds for termination — "60-plus" pages detailing harassment claims by not only the woman at the private business, but by members of the community and employees at the building department, which shares an office with the fire marshal.

Those allegations include making a sexual gesture toward a female resident after the resident left the main counter and initiating office conversations about genetalia and making socially insentive remarks. They were deternined to be credible, according to documents released after a previous Freedom of information request.

See the details of Call's dismissal here.