JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A federal labor arbitrator has ruled that the City of Jacksonville improperly punished a district chief with the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, and that the Mayor\u2019s office \u2013 influenced by negative publicity – became deeply involved in discipline discussions.<\/p>\n
The decision stems from a February 2025 incident<\/a> at Fire Station 28 involving District Chief Byron Iveson and a probationary firefighter who had chosen to fast during the day while preparing for Ramadan.<\/p>\n >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/a><\/p>\n Action News Jax first reported on the incident in April, after obtaining an internal document that alleged Iveson yelled at the firefighter and threatened to cut his hours and pay if he did not comply with orders to eat. <\/p>\n Based on the city\u2019s investigation, Iveson received a two-month unpaid suspension<\/a>, was removed from his district chief assignment, reassigned to a 40-hour administrative schedule, and required to complete comprehensive training.<\/p>\n However, in a newly released arbitration award, the arbitrator determined Iveson \u201cdid not violate any department policy\u201d when he questioned the firefighter about not eating during Ramadan.<\/p>\n RELATED: JFRD: District Chief suspended for \u2018religious discrimination,\u2019 policy changed<\/a><\/p>\n The situation began when Iveson noticed the firefighter was not participating in the crew\u2019s station breakfast. The firefighter explained he was fasting for religious reasons. Iveson, citing safety concerns tied to the physically demanding nature of firefighting, contacted multiple supervisors to ask whether there were policies addressing fasting while on duty.<\/p>\n The arbitrator found no such policy existed.<\/p>\n Witnesses described a subsequent conversation between Iveson and the firefighter as \u201cforceful\u201d and \u201cintense.\u201d The firefighter later said he felt uncomfortable, though he did not file a complaint at the time. More than a month later, another employee reported the exchange up the chain of command, triggering a formal internal investigation.<\/p>\n City leaders argued that Iveson\u2019s tone and conduct amounted to harassment connected to a religious practice. But after reviewing testimony, department policies, and investigative findings, the arbitrator concluded the city lacked \u201cproper cause\u201d for the discipline.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/a>]<\/p>\n \u201cThe arbitrator doesn\u2019t doubt for a minute that safety was his primary concern,\u201d the decision states, noting that Iveson was attempting to balance respect for religious observance with his responsibility to ensure crew readiness during emergency responses.<\/p>\n The ruling also points to what it called a broader \u201csystemic failure\u201d within the department. Multiple supervisors acknowledged they were unaware of any formal guidance on handling religious fasting in operational roles. When Iveson sought direction, none provided clear answers.<\/p>\n The arbitrator pointed out involvement of the Mayor\u2019s office and alluded to Action News Jax\u2019s Ben Becker\u2019s reporting: <\/p>\n \u201cIt is worth mentioning that for unexplained reasons, about one month after the investigation concluded, information about the JFRD investigation into the ostensible religious discrimination against a Muslim firefighter began circulating in the local media as well as online. It was shortly after that negative publicity when the Mayor\u2019s office got involved. The arbitrator is of the opinion it was, at least in part, due to that negative publicity the mayor\u2019s office got so deeply involved in this matter and especially in the discussion about what discipline would be appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/a>] <\/p>\n Kelly Dobson, President of the Jacksonville Association of Firefighters, sent Action News Jax a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe arbitrator\u2019s decision correctly affirmed our position that District Chief Iveson was innocent of the charges brought against him,\u201d said Dobson.<\/p>\n JFRD issued the following statement:<\/p>\n \u201cJFRD respects the arbitration process and the outcome. One of Chief Golden\u2019s first actions upon taking command was establishing a committee to conduct and comprehensive review of departmental policies and procedures, and this ruling will be included in that assessment.\u201d<\/p>\n The Mayor\u2019s office said, \u201cGiven JFRD\u2019s position in the chain of command, it is common practice for administration leadership to be briefed on personnel and operational matters. The City of Jacksonville remains committed to a work environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity.\u201d<\/p>\n The arbitrator ordered the city to immediately return Iveson to his former district chief position, if that has not already occurred, and to compensate him for lost pay, benefits and interest tied to the reassignment.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here<\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here<\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A federal labor arbitrator has ruled that the City of Jacksonville improperly punished a district…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177037,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[344,347,28,348,116,28116,83665,351,118,117,83667,83664,83666,83668,349,77021,350,346,345],"class_list":["post-177036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action-news-jax","tag-cbs47","tag-florida","tag-fox30","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-fire-and-rescue-department","tag-jacksonville-firefighter-ramadan-fast","tag-jacksonville-fl","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-jfrd-chief-golden","tag-jfrd-district-chief-byron-iveson","tag-jfrd-fire-station-28","tag-kelly-dobson-president-of-jacksonville-association-of-firefighters","tag-northeast-florida","tag-ramadan","tag-southeast-georgia","tag-wfox","tag-wjax"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}