A fire chief accused of dropping his pants in front of a female guard during a security check is set to retire.
Dennis Brooks, the head of Atlantic City's Fire Department will retire on Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the Atlantic City mayor.
Brooks was placed on administrative leave amid allegations of sexual harassment from a female security guard.
“She was appalled,” said the woman’s attorney Sebastian Ionno. “She was just in complete shock.”
Ionno told NBC10 the alleged incident occurred March 5 as Brooks was passing through a metal detector during a standard screening inside the Atlantic City Fire Department building. The woman claimed her request for Brooks to “remove metal from pockets” quickly turned inappropriate.
“At that point, Chief Brooks undid his belt, pulled down his pants and told my client he was having a bad day,” Ionno said. “Standing there in his underwear, one of the highest ranking members of the Atlantic City government.”
Ionno and the worker sent a complaint letter to the city’s attorney calling on city officials to preserve any evidence, including surveillance video, that may have captured the alleged incident. Ionno told NBC10 his client hasn’t decided yet whether she wants to file a lawsuit. At this point however, Ionno wants Brooks to be reprimanded and does not want the worker to face any repercussions.
“Even though she is concerned about the consequences against her, she felt she had to do this for herself and for other employees,” Ionno said.
Earlier in March, NBC10 obtained surveillance video allegedly showing Brooks dropping his pants.
NBC10 reached out to Brooks for comment. We have not yet heard back from him. At this point, police say they are not conducting a criminal investigation. The Atlantic City Mayor’s Office told NBC10 an internal investigation is underway however.
