LEE COUNTY, Fla. – A group of Lee County first responders sent to help communities torn apart by Hurricane Florence was then torn apart by the man who was supposed to lead them.
In September 2018, Lee County Public Safety Department sent Strike Team 601 to help hurricane victims in North Carolina.
Strike Team 601 spent 13 days in Morehead City, North Carolina. During that time, three female employees on the trip accused EMS lieutenant Scott Phillips of being abusive, sexist, and suggesting the women on his team should stick to doing the laundry and dishes.
The women said he also caused them to cry when he yelled at them, left them out of emergency calls, and demeaned them on the job in front of other emergency service professionals in North Carolina.
According to NBC2, it is the only news station to obtain documents recently released by Lee County from the investigation. NBC2 initially requested the documents from county staff in October 2018.
The county’s investigation did not wrap up until January 16, 2019. The documents were provided to NBC2 this week, late Tuesday night.
The 95-page investigative report from the county’s public safety department reveals the ugly truth of what happened in North Carolina during the team’s deployment.
Phillips spoke poorly of his higher ranked commanders in Lee County, said he wanted his captain to retire so he could rise in rank and complained he did not have a county credit card.
When confronted about his misconduct by another male lieutenant during deployment in North Carolina, Phillips almost got into a fist fight with the man.
Upon the team’s return, all of the women deployed filed complaints against Phillips for demeaning them, mocking them and verbally abusing them.
Lee County suspended Phillips on September 29, 2018 for violating 10 county policies. Some of those policies detail that Phillips’ misconduct put his own crew and the public in harm’s way.
Officials also found Phillips falsely accused his co-lieutenant of a physical attack, as well as intimidated and harassed his co-workers once he found out that an investigation had started.
The report cited emails, phone calls, text messages and emails Phillips sent to his co-workers trying to convince them to “squash the situation” and “not smear his name.”
NBC2 spoke with Scott Phillips Wednesday on the phone. He declined to comment for this story.
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