Panel Told of Sex Material at Firehouse

A veteran woman paramedic testified Tuesday that when she worked at a Los Angeles Fire Department station in Westchester sexually explicit magazines were scattered around the firehouse and some male firefighters watched sex films on television.

Lynn McKay Roth told members of a board of rights for Fire Capt. Arthur L. Suess that the magazines featured nudity and male and female sex acts and that the films ranged the sexual spectrum. The material offended her, she said.

Suess, a 15-year veteran, faces charges of failing to show concern about the presence of the magazines and the viewing of sex films with women present.

McKay Roth said there was an “aura of sexuality” at the station, which she felt she could not do anything about because Suess, her captain, also watched the films. When she finally complained, she said, Suess suggested that she just walk out of the room.

In his testimony, Suess described McKay Roth as “a very difficult woman to get along with,” and denied that she had ever complained to him about sexually explicit material. If she had, he said he would have taken action.

Suess’ defense representative, Capt. John Squire, maintained that the Fire Department did not define what is meant by “sexually explicit” material until recently, yet Suess is being charged with violations supposedly committed more than a year ago.