LONDON, Ont.—The chief of the London, Ont., fire service has retired amid allegations that his department was plagued by harassment and retaliation. The City of London announced Monday that Chief John Kobarda was retiring “effective immediately” after 27 years with the service, 14 of which were spent in the top job. “As many will know, my plan was to retire this year,” Kobarda said a statement from the city. With that in mind, I have decided that I will be stepping down today.”The London Abused Women’s Centre has, in little more than a week, received complaints from around 30 London firefighters — most of the them men — the organization’s executive director Megan Walker said. “It is definitely a culture of harassment, abuse and retaliation against those firefighters that have stood up for others that have been harassed and abused,” Walker said.

Source: thestar March 19, 2018 17:44 UTC