10TV has uncovered new information on the sexual harassment investigation at the Columbus Division of Fire.
As many as six women accuse former Battalion Chief Joe Richard of sexual misconduct at work.
Richard resigned in October after the start of two investigations: one internal, one criminal.
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The accusations against former Battalion Chief Joe Richard are detailed in public records obtained by 10TV.
City officials tell 10TV as many as 6 women have come forward to accuse him of incidents that left them feeling harassed, embarrassed, and uncomfortable.
In newly released documents, two city employees detail their encounters with Richard.
One says “it started right from the beginning…he would stand really closely and just ask a lot of questions…and then ask my number and then would text me.”
In the incident she calls the most uncomfortable, she says Richard followed her to her car.
“He asked if I had a boyfriend, and I was like, ‘No,’ and he was like, ‘Why? How could you not have a boyfriend?’ Then he was like, ‘Have you ever had a boyfriend?’ And I was like, ‘No…’ I don’t know if I just like said ‘Oh I’ve never had a boyfriend,’ to just kind of have him please stop talking about it…”
“He was like, ‘How could you not have a boyfriend ever like I’m sure so many guys are like after you…'”
She says “he asked, ‘Okay if you’ve never had a boyfriend can I assume…’ and then he looked at me really suggestively…and that made me super uncomfortable and he was like, ‘Can I assume that…’ and he was asking me if I was a virgin.”
She said, “He was even asking the ethnicity of the guys that I had been with.”
“Those sort of things would obviously be way out of bounds,” said Richard’s attorney Larry James. “He denies having that type of conversation, and that type of conversation is clearly inappropriate.”
The woman says the conversation at her car lasted 40 minutes to an hour.
“I’d even opened the door at one point and put one of my feet in the door…to make it seem like I was trying to get away from it…but it didn’t stop and then at the end…he kept asking me, ‘Can I get a hug’ and I was like, ‘No I don’t hug people unless I’m close to them,’ and then he was like, ‘Don’t worry we’ll get there.'”
She said, “He would start getting closer and then I would start moving back. He kept touching my back and my shoulder area…but then I put the door in between us when I opened it.”
She says he also asked, “Is everything on your body real?”
A second female city employee says Richard would “always want a hug before” meetings.
She says he once told her, “wow you have two young girls and you have a body like that.”
She said, “It struck me in the moment as being very unprofessional, a little bit uncomfortable. It was a very targeted comment.”
James says Richard also denies this accusation but does say this:
Larry James: “I would say inappropriate conversations took place, but not to the extent that these allegations reveal. Anytime you get into some type of conversation about someone’s personal life and you are in a supervisory capacity, you’re approaching that line.”
Glenn McEntyre: “Being in that leadership position, being a veteran on the Division of Fire, are these things that he should have known better about?”
Larry James: “He should have known better, absolutely. I mean sometimes you get too comfortable, irrespective of your position.”
But he denies Richard’s behavior reached the level of sexual harassment.
Larry James: “From a legal standpoint, you’ve got to have a couple things: whether it impacted someone’s work environment, were they- did they lose any pay? Did they receive any demotion? Did they feel constructively harassed and was it sustained? Or was that a one-off?”
Glenn McEntyre: “We have as many as six women making these accusations. So that’s clearly not a one-off.”
Larry James: “If he had it to do over, obviously he would do it differently. And to answer your question, in that position, he has to take responsibility for that.”
Glenn McEntyre: “Does he take responsibility for any of this?”
Larry James: “Yeah I think from the standpoint of if he had it to do over, he would do it very differently. These things would not have been said.”
There are two investigations of Joe Richard: one criminal, by Columbus Police, and one internal, by the city’s Department of Public Safety.
James says Richard is cooperating fully with both investigations.
He says he’s already given an interview to police and has offered to be interviewed for the internal review.
10TV has previously detailed allegations against Richard from three other accusers.
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