Parent holds a leadership position at the Fire Station as a lieutenant of the department. According to RIAC, he had repeatedly contacted prospective candidates for employment at RIAC and discouraged them from working at the airport. This put the department at risk of not meeting safety requirements under Part 139 of federal regulations. These safety regulations are in place to safeguard Rhode Islanders and the traveling public. "He created a public safety risk," said RIAC Chief Legal Counsel & Chief of Staff, Brittany Morgan in a phone interview with GoLocal. Parent has worked at the airport since 2013 according to his social media posts. RIAC believes that as an officer of the department, he knowingly and willfully engaged in efforts to sabotage airport operations and violated his fiduciary responsibility. As an officer of the department, his actions amount to gross misconduct. It is important to note that the employees Mr. Parent contacted have come forward to put his behavior in writing. RIAC has given a notice to terminate Parent for this alleged misconduct. Parent has admitted to repeatedly and consistently calling prospective employees,” said RIAC in the statement. “The organization relies on a properly staffed fire department to ensure the safety of the traveling public. Mr. Parent’s conduct violated RIAC’s Code of Ethics, which requires all employees to act at the highest moral, professional and ethical levels, particularly from those in leadership positions,” stated Duc Nguyen, RIAC’s senior vice president of operations. According to Morgan, the airport first learned of Parent's actions in 2022, and then more incidents came to light this summer. Morgan said that when confronted Parent did not deny he did it. According to RIAC, During this timeframe, Parent benefited personally from over $52,000 in overtime pay due to vacancies. As a lieutenant, he had direct influence on overtime shift scheduling and thus was able to direct these shifts and accompanying payments towards himself. Additionally, Parent recently informed his superiors that he conducted this activity in his “personal capacity” and not as the president of the union. This announcement comes just four weeks after a press conference by airport officials announcing legal action against individuals who have worked to undermine the airport. RI Airport CEO Iftikhar Ahmad was joined by his senior team to address specifically the plans it intends to take, after anonymous emails to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on what they say were false claims of a walkout harmed the airport financially. The airport has exploded in growth in recent years and is consistently rated as one of the best airports in the United States and the world. “We’ve had tremendous success here over eight years,” said Ahmad. “There are things that we need to work on…and the toxicity that has been created by some union officials and some disgruntled employees. There’s been some settling scores taking place. We usually don’t respond to anonymous letters from 'proton mail.' Now, we have to take some action.”
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