West Haven Fire Department Deputy Chief Scott Schwartz has been out of work for more than a month, placed on paid administrative leave after a series of clashes involving him and a rank-and-file firefighter, according to several sources.
Schwartz, who also is the city’s emergency management director, has not been suspended from that job. He worked during the last snowstorm of the season — in plain clothes — helping to direct the city’s storm response. One source called the issue “a very, very minor personnel issue,” involving a comment or comments that Schwartz allegedly made “about somebody’s work,” not about the person personally.