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MYSTERY SHOPPERS

The Civil Service Commission upheld the 30-day suspension of a Tucson Fire Department battalion chief accused of sending e-mails officials considered "disparaging of the homosexual lifestyle."

The suspension was upheld 2-1 Tuesday, according to Mike Storie, Battalion Chief Sharon McDonough's attorney.

McDonough, 43, has already served her suspension but called it too harsh and wanted the suspension to be reversed and to have her disciplinary record cleared.

According to a city document, McDonough and Roger Lee, a former Fire Department captain, were exchanging e-mails on Feb. 1 about how McDonough was feeling after a fire earlier in the day. The conversation eventually focused on a Tucson Fire Department engineer, Michelle Maliniak.

"I have two pittbulls (sic)," Lee wrote in an e-mail. "We could teach them to hunt the dreaded milliniak (sic) beast."

To which McDonough replied: "delete — but okay ... ."

Lee said it was a private exchange between friends that was later discovered by Maliniak. Both McDonough and Lee denied being homophobic.

Storie said firefighters from the chief on down regularly send flirtatious e-mails with inappropriate jokes similar to the ones that got McDonough suspended.

Maliniak returned to the department after taking an unpaid medical leave due to harassment she said she experienced at fire stations because of her gender and sexual orientation.

McDonough has worked for the department since 1990. She was promoted to battalion chief in 2005.

"It's time for this commission to stop adopting every recommendation made by the chiefs of police and fire departments," Storie said of Tuesday's ruling.

Storie routinely represents police officers and said that in at least the last seven years, an officer has never won an appeal in front of the commission.

McDonough can appeal to superior court, but that option hasn't been discussed and it is unlikely, Storie said.