PORT ALLEN - A West Baton Rouge Parish Deputy Fire Chief is appealing his termination after the parish fire civil service board said he violated sick leave policies.

The West Baton Rouge Fire Civil Service Board says that James Hartley was terminated in January. It and the parish declined to tell WBRZ how he violated it.

Hartley and his attorney appealed the decision in late January.

"He did not engage in the misconduct that was asserted against him, and it seems to us, based on our preliminary investigation, that Mr. Hartley may not have actually been terminated by any lawful appointing authority of Fire District 1," Hartley's attorney Kevin Vogeltanz said.

However, some of his former colleagues believe Hartley's termination was retaliation for speaking out against the parish fire department.

A few months ago, the parish moved forward with Fire Chief Butch Browning in a part-time role, eliminating the full-time position. Hartley was one of the firefighters who spoke out against this.

"I challenge anyone in this room to find me one example nationwide of a department of our size that is completely made up of contracted part-time leadership," Hartley said in October 2025.

Former West Baton Rouge Firefighter Robert Smith believes the fire department and the parish are making an example out of Hartley.

"After Butch Browning came along, and he (Hartley) confronted Butch on some things that were not being handled properly according to state statute, nor the Firefighters' Bill of Rights, or anything else. From that point on, they've been retaliating against Mr. Hartley," Smith said.

The parish strongly denies the accusation.

"Obviously, we won't use anything like that as a reason. The fire chief would not use that as a reason for a recommendation of termination for an employee," West Baton Rouge Parish President Jason Manola said.

Monday night, the fire civil service board agreed to take up the appeal. Now, attorneys have to decide on a hearing date.

"Normally, the hearing will take place within the next couple of months, depending on lawyers' schedules. Probably, I'm thinking sometime in maybe late March or something would probably be about the time that this would be coming up," Henry Olinde, the Civil Service Board's attorney, said.