CINCINNATI — Records show an investigation into now-fired Assistant Fire Chief Sherman Smith revealed he sent "confidential" information to former Fire Chief Michael Washington, who is currently suing the city over his termination.
The Cincinnati Fire Department confirmed Thursday that Smith had been terminated after a "lengthy investigation." Smith was first put on paid administrative leave in July, but neither the department nor the local union provided any details about the nature of the investigation.
According to a report we obtained, an investigation into Smith began in June when confidential information shared during a Fire Command Staff meeting was believed to have been shared with people outside of the meeting.
Smith confirmed to investigators that he forwarded multiple emails to his wife's email and the email of former chief Washington, including correspondence with current Fire Chief Frank McKinley, Local 48 President Joe Elliot, Internal Investigations Captain Ed Wallace and members of the city’s Law Department.
Smith also forwarded multiple documents, including the results from the Cincinnati Fire Department Climate Assessment, multiple investigation reports from the Law Department and results of an open complaint.
The report says Smith told officials he did not view any of the correspondence or documents as confidential and said no documents were connected to Washington's ongoing wrongful termination lawsuit against the city. In his interviews, Smith is quoted as saying he shared them with Washington because he "trusted Mike's judgment."
In one instance, Smith sent a memo from McKinley detailing CFD's capital budget request and arson investigation findings to Washington, saying, "Nice to see your work stolen without any mention of the people that put it together."
Smith told investigators he sent it to Washington because he wanted his opinion.
"I was just asking (Washington's) opinion, as I do from time to time because he has very relevant experience," Smith said.
Another email forwarded to Washington was connected to fire chief openings in Colorado and other parts of the country. In a message, Smith asked Washington if there was any connection between the openings and a trip McKinley took to Colorado.
When Smith was notified that he was being investigated and asked to complete an attached form responding to the investigation, he sent an email to his wife and Washington that included his response.
Washington then responded to the email with edits and comments on the complaint.
"In this particular instance, you know, I was, I was asked to reply to some accusations ... and my concern was to be too bombastic, you know, in my reply. So, you know, sometimes I bounce it off of somebody that I respect to say, hey, you know, is this too much? Do I need to back off of how I'm stating what it is I'm stating?" Smith told investigators.
He also told investigators that Washington would make some record requests, which Smith would handle directly. Records show these included things like Washington's promotions and hourly wages. Smith said he chose whether to fulfill requests or refer them to the typical process for public requests based on "how much work it was going to cause for me."
Also included in many records is Smith's forwarding to his wife's email. He told investigators he did that to access his emails outside of work.
The investigation also determined Smith used the email for personal business, like responding to family members or other businesses. He said that was because managing multiple emails "gets to be quite a lot."
Per the report, Smith violated multiple policies, including those regarding information security, computer operations and ethical conduct.
