Facing Firing, Deputy Fire Chief Retires

A deputy fire chief retired before he could be fired for allegedly violating ​“department rules and regulations and a last chance agreement” governing his municipal employment.

That’s according to city Fire Chief John Alston.

Alston offered that update Thursday morning during a Zoom-assisted special meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners.

On the agenda for Thursday’s meeting was Alston’s recommendation that the commissioners terminate the employment of Deputy Chief Herschel Wadley.

A 26-year veteran of the New Haven Fire Department, Wadley was promoted to the role of deputy chief nine months ago — on the same day that he had a final court hearing in an assault case where he was the defendant.

“Deputy Chief Wadley violated the department rules and regulations and a last chance agreement that he had in place,” Alston said on Thursday about why he had moved to fire the deputy chief.

That proposed termination is now moot, he added, because Wadley retired on March 11.

Nevertheless, Alston said, he wanted to ​“memorialize” the proposed termination during Thursday’s meeting to ensure that Wadley would not be able to return to a city fire job at a future date. 

“Past language allows members to return to the New Haven Fire Department with less than a year of separation of service,” he said. That won’t be allowed in Wadley’s case.

“If that individual ever decided to come back or reapply to the New Haven Fire Department, it is on the record that the termination was going to move forward based on the [alleged violation of] the last-chance agreement.”

No "Inappropriate Physical Contact" Allowed

Alston did not go into any details during the public meeting about what department rules Wadley allegedly violated, or what the terms of his ​“last chance agreement” were.

The Independent obtained a copy of that agreement after the commission meeting.

The two-page document is dated July 30, 2019, and is signed by Wadley, then-city Labor Relations Director Thomas McCarthy, and then-city fire union President Frank Ricci.

It states that Wadley ​“was involved in an off-duty incident and has been on an extended paid administrative leave as a result.”

It also states that Wadley accepted a 15-day suspension beginning on Aug. 1, 2019.

“Upon his return to work and as a condition of employment,” the settlement agreement reads, ​“Mr. Wadley shall not engage in any inappropriate physical contact with any individual, on or off duty. Nor shall Mr. Wadley be arrested for any felony or misdemeanor indicative of the behavior listed above.”

“Should Mr. Wadley violate any of the items listed in this Agreement,” the document continues, ​“he may be subject to further discipline up to and including termination at the Chief’s sole discretion. The Union’s complaint of any such discipline shall be restricted to determining whether the conduct at issue violates this Last Chance Agreement.” 

Wadley, meanwhile, was not present at Thursday’s virtual meeting. He also did not respond by the publication time of this article to a phone call request for comment.

He was arrested back in 2018 for third-degree assault and disorderly conduct for allegedly grabbing a Horwitz Uniforms worker by the back of the neck and shaking her during a dispute in a West Haven store over a pair of work boots.

The case was dismissed after Wadley completed probation in the matter, according to a Milford state courthouse clerk the Independent spoke with last year.

“I don’t even want to talk about that,” Wadley told the Independent last year on the same day of his promotion and court case.​“The past is the past. I’m excited about the promotion and looking forward to the challenge of running the city as deputy chief.”

Also on Thursday, the fire commissioners voted unanimously to promote Rafael Zayas from battalion chief to deputy chief, to fill the hole left by Wadley.

And they voted unanimously to promote Christopher Ryan from captain to battalion chief to fill the hole left by Zayas.