Staff writer
chriscam@observer-reporter.com
A Washington firefighter was suspended from her job with pay Friday after the mayor and City Council determined she had been insubordinate to her supervisor.
Victoria Bozic, who had provided an address of 302 N. Main St., Midway, when she was hired, was suspended when officials decided at a special council meeting she had not been truthful about her updated address.
Bozic, who was hired Sept. 1, 2008, is required to live seven and one-half "air miles" from Washington County Courthouse by the end of her six-month employment probationary period. Her probationary period ends Sunday.
Attorney Lane Turturice interviewed several city workers who attended a meeting he had with Bozic Thursday morning. Bozic, witnesses said, claimed she was living at an address on Welsh Road, Chartiers Township. But when Turturice and police Chief James R. Blythe went to the home Friday, they found an elderly couple and their son were the home's only residents.
"She directly and deliberately falsified information to her superior, which constitutes insubordination," Turturice said.
On Friday, Bozic provided city officials a new address of 145 LeMoyne Ave., East Washington. Turturice did not have ample time to determine if she was residing there.
Bozic's suspension is with pay pending further investigation by Turturice and his preparation of formal charges.
Charges that she had not followed regulations and procedures were withdrawn.
Bozic did not attend the special meeting. When Bozic was hired, she became the first paid professional female firefighter in Washington County.