Transgender Fire Chief of Byron, Georgia Fired

Transgender fire chief of Byron, Georgia, Rachel Mosby, has been terminated from her position, reported 13MWAZ

Mosby has served as fire chief for about 11 years in Byron, but did so for eight as a man before transitioning in 2016, a decision she said made her “happier” than she had ever been.

Now, Mosby has lost her job for a number of reasons, says Byron’s mayor pro tem Michael Chidester.

“The chief was required in her job description to obtain and maintain a certification as an arson investigator and she failed to do that,” Chidester said.

Mosby also reportedly failed to attend a majority of fire-chief training classes the city paid for her to attend, as well as failing to process business licenses quickly enough. However, she did improve the city’s insurance safety rating. “Chief Mosby was charged with working to improve the ISO for the city of Byron and I will say that he, and subsequently she, did a great job,” said Chidester.

However, Mosby’s lawyers say the reasons Chidester has given are “untrue.” While Mosby has not responded or commented, her lawyers claim that she was “shocked” by her termination, which they call “discriminatory.”

“Over the last 12 years, Fire Chief Rachel Mosby has proudly served the residents of Byron, where she has built Byron’s Fire Department from an all-volunteer organization into the professional agency that it is today,” they said. “She was shocked on Tuesday when she was notified of her termination, effectively immediately, and escorted out of her office by a police officer the same day.”

“While her coming out as transgender at work received local media attention, nothing has distracted Chief Mosby from her duties of protecting the citizens of Byron,” Mosby’s lawyers continued. “Chief Mosby has and maintained all of the necessary certifications for her position, and there is nothing about Chief Mosby’s performance that warranted her termination. Quite simply, the City’s stated reasons are untrue. If this termination had occurred just a few months ago, Chief Mosby would have requested an appeal. However, due to a recent change in their policies, Chief Mosby is the first department head in Byron who has absolutely no recourse internally with the City.”

“The City’s termination of Chief Mosby was, in fact, discriminatory and a violation of her constitutional right of due process. It is unfortunate that the City chose to single out one of its long-time employees because of her gender. We hope that the City will reconsider its termination and allow her to continue serving her fellow residents of Byron as its Fire Chief. If we are unable to resolve this matter, Chief Mosby is considering all of her legal options.”