Fire Captain Files Grievance Over Playboy Channel Ban : Workplace: He protests restriction at county stations in Thousand Oaks area. Officials say programs violate sexual harassment policy.

A Ventura County fire captain has filed a grievance against the county, charging that a recent decision to ban the Playboy Channel at fire stations in the Thousand Oaks area has violated his rights.

In a case similar to a civil suit filed last week by a Los Angeles County firefighter, Ventura County Capt. Robert Stowe contends that the First Amendment protects his right to watch the channel during lulls between emergency calls.

But Fire Department officials say the channel--and sexually oriented publications such as Playboy and Penthouse magazines--are prohibited in the workplace under the county’s sexual harassment policy.

In September, fire officials sent out a memo to seven stations in the Thousand Oaks area directing fire captains to remove the Playboy Channel from the stations’ cable programming.

The directive came after a county firefighter in the area told department managers that he was offended by the channel’s sexually explicit shows.

Assistant Fire Chief Bob Holoway said Monday that fire officials planned to expand the ban to all of the district’s 30 fire stations, but they decided to delay the move until the grievance is resolved. The matter is expected to go to an arbitration hearing next year.

“What we are trying to do is make sure work sites are comfortable to the people who work there,” Holoway said.

But Stowe, who supervises nine firefighters at the county’s Oak Park station, said the department’s policy goes too far.

“No one should be able to tell me what I should be allowed to watch or not watch,” said Stowe, who has worked for the department for 26 years. “It’s First Amendment rights all the way.”

Ken Maffei, president of the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Assn., said the union is prepared to file a lawsuit against the county if it refuses to revoke the ban.

He said firefighters paid for the cable access and purchased the televisions--kept in station lounges--with their own money, adding that they should be allowed to watch whatever they want during the downtime of their 24-hour shifts.

“I never watch the Playboy Channel,” said Maffei, who works at the county’s Moorpark station, which subscribes to the channel. “But I don’t want them telling me I can’t. . . . Where does it stop?”

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Last week, Los Angeles County Fire Capt. Steve W. Johnson filed a suit in Superior Court alleging that his First Amendment rights are being abridged by his department’s ban on sexually oriented publications.

In July, 1992, Los Angeles County fire officials issued a sexual harassment policy banning sexually oriented materials from all work locations. The policy also prohibits the viewing of explicit videos and Playboy Channel at county stations.

Johnson filed his lawsuit with the backing of the American Civil Liberties Union and Playboy.

The outcome of the case could have wide implications. Departments from Inglewood to Santa Ana have adopted similar policies that prevent firefighters from reading or viewing sexually explicit material on the job.

“It is a very serious issue,” said Stephen Silver, attorney for the Ventura County firefighters union. “Who decides what is appropriate viewing? What about religious programs? You could argue that there’s an issue of separation of church and state.”

But Fire Department officials argued that they have a responsibility to keep offensive material out of the department, which has been criticized by some women and minority firefighters for acts of discrimination and harassment.

“While many normally domestic functions occur at the fire station due to the 24-hour shifts, the fire station remains a workplace,” Assistant Chief Dave Festerling wrote in a letter addressing Stowe’s concerns. “The law is very clear that the workplace remain free of activities that are offensive to other workers.”