City Rec. Worker Fired For Fight With Son

Hernando Today

BROOKSVILLE - The city's recreation program coordinator has lost his job after getting into an altercation with his son during a flag football game at the city's summer camp.

Lou Bermudez, 57, was fired June 20 for the incident that happened three days prior at the Jerome Brown Community Center, according to documents in Bermudez's personnel file. His son, 17-year-old Lou Bermudez Jr., was volunteering as a camp counselor

During the fight, Lou Jr. fell and hit his head on a set of bleachers, causing a cut that required three staples to close, Parks and Recreation Director Mike Walker wrote in summary of the incident sent to City Manager Jennene Norman-Vacha.

"This type of violent behavior is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated," Walker wrote to Bermudez in a letter of termination.

Walker fired Bermudez for violations to the city's personnel manual, including "behavior which is violent or exhibits violent tendencies" and "offensive conduct toward fellow employees."

City policy gives employees 14 days within their termination to file an appeal with Norman-Vacha. Bermudez did not.

According to Walker's summary, here's what happened:

Lou Jr. and another camp counselor got into a heated verbal exchange over an official's call during the football game. When Bermudez stepped in, his son pushed him.

"It is then (that) Mr. Bermudez violently went after Lou Jr. and they both went to the floor with Lou Jr. hitting the back of his head on the bleachers."

Lou Jr. pushed his father off of him, "however, Mr. Bermudez attempted to come back at him," Walker wrote. Bermudez's 12-year-old daughter tried to separate the two and was "flung to the side."

According to Walker's report, Bermudez never told him of the fight. Walker learned of it when a parent of one of the campers called him at about 5 p.m. that day.

"Her son came home from camp and told her about the violent behavior that he and the other children in the camp witnessed...," Walker wrote.

Bermudez did not return calls seeking comment. But in his own written account in his personnel file, he wrote that he warned his son to stop arguing with the other counselor or "take it outside."

When his son ignored him, Bermudez repeated the order, and his son "shoved" him. Bermudez "grabbed him to discipline him," he wrote. "We locked up a little, then when I tried to put him to the floor he hit his head" on the bleachers.

Bermudez wrote that he gathered the children in the camp "and apologized for what had happened." When two other city workers relieved him, he "ran" out to his car "and cried like a child."

"My entire lunch was spent driving around in shock ... questioning myself (as) to how it happened and why did my son disrespect myself in front of the children," he wrote.

Bermudez noted that he has worked with children, including "gang members," since 1975 and "never had an incident where I put my hands on a child."

"This incident and the circumstances under which it happened does not define my character with children."

Bermudez was hired in May 2006 and had a salary of $30,222 at the time he was fired. Two performance evaluations since then were generally positive. Under "interpersonal relationships" on his last evaluation in May of last year, Walker gave Bermudez a "very good" and noted he was "very pleasant to be around."

Neither Walker nor Norman-Vacha returned calls prior to press deadline Friday.