Female firefighter says male co-worker groped her

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A female firefighter says a male co-worker groped her in the middle of the night and never got in any trouble.

Janaya Davis works for the DeKalb County Fire Department. She told Channel 2's Erica Byfield her account of what happened.

"I was asleep in my bed and I was awakened by someone rubbing on my butt," Davis said.

The veteran firefighter added she was startled. Davis was working out of fire station 15 in Chamblee.

"I turned over and I saw a firefighter standing over me with just his underwear on him trying to climb on top of me in the bed," she said.

The day of the alleged incident Davis contacted Chamblee police and her captain.

Channel 2 Action News put in an open records request to obtain a copy of the internal investigation. We are not identifying the male firefighter because he has not been charged with anything.

DeKalb officials say they did not punish the male firefighter involved because he quit before the internal investigation was complete.

A statement from a county representative said, "DeKalb County takes all claims of misconduct very seriously, but must afford all employees due process. As the Chamblee Police investigation had to be completed before DeKalb could complete an internal review, we were unable to take administrative action before the employee resigned."

The male firefighter told investigators he accidentally bumped Davis because he was sleep walking and trying to find the restroom.

"The restroom is not past my bed. If you go past my bed there's nothing but a wall," Davis said.

Byfield went by the male firefighter's home, but he did not answer the door.

Davis is frustrated with her department.

"I asked for a transfer during the investigation because I was afraid that he would come back and retaliate against me. He still had access to my sleeping quarters and they left me there and they refused to transfer me," she said.

Davis added she just wants to feel comfortable at work.

"It's just I feel like I don't have any security for feeling safe when I got to work," she said.

While the male firefighter was never punished, the final page of the internal investigation found the male firefighter violated several county policies by lying and sleeping only in his underwear at the fire house.

Byfield learned DeKalb County has 542 firefighters, of which 42 are female.

WSBTV