Delegates from the International Association of Fire Fighters unanimously censured San Antonio Fire Chief Valerie Frausto this month, escalating a series of disputes between the city’s firefighters union and department leadership over employee discipline, medical accommodations and the city’s collective bargaining agreement.
The censure was approved Aug. 14 during the IAFF’s 58th Convention in Arlington after the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 624, introduced a resolution detailing several lawsuits and grievances involving Frausto and the city.
Local union leaders announced the vote Tuesday, saying the disputes have contributed to low morale and a loss of confidence in Frausto’s leadership.
“The unanimous censure of Fire Chief Frausto reflects her escalating administrative hostilities toward our members, despite repeated attempts by Local 624 to work harmoniously and collaboratively,” Local 624 President Joe Jones said in a statement.
The SAFD referred a request for comment to the city, which rejected the union’s allegations and noted that the censure has no authority over Frausto’s position.
“The action is wrong on the merits and has no formal authority,” a city spokesperson said. “The City Manager continues to have full confidence in the Chief and her team.”
The resolution centers largely on disputes already playing out through lawsuits, grievances and the collective bargaining process, several of which remain unresolved. The union said their cumulative effect has resulted in a “substantial loss of confidence” in Frausto among its members.
One of the most significant issues involves the department’s treatment of a fire engineer prescribed THCA for chronic pain.
Under the firefighters’ current contract, negotiated in 2024, a positive THCA test consistent with a valid prescription is not considered a positive drug test, although the city retains the authority to determine whether an employee is fit for duty.
Local 624 alleges the firefighter tested positive during a random drug test in November and provided his prescription, but Frausto nevertheless ordered him to undergo a fitness-for-duty evaluation with a city-selected psychiatrist.
According to the union’s lawsuit, the psychiatrist found no observed decline in the firefighter’s job performance but determined he was unfit for duty because of his prescribed THCA use. The union alleges the firefighter was then required to remain off work until he could produce a negative test, forcing him to use accrued leave and other benefits.
Local 624 sued the city in April, alleging it had implemented the provision of the contract in bad faith. That lawsuit remains pending in Bexar County district court.
A separate lawsuit involves a paramedic who was indefinitely suspended after responding to a February 2025 rollover crash involving his wife.
According to the union, the paramedic received permission from supervisors to travel in an SAFD unit to the crash scene outside Bexar County. His wife had declined treatment from Wilson County EMS and signed a high-risk refusal before her husband arrived and transported her for medical evaluation.
Months later, Frausto indefinitely suspended the paramedic — effectively terminating him — over allegations that included an improper transfer of care and a complaint from Wilson County emergency officials.
The union alleges it later learned Wilson County had neither filed a complaint nor accused the paramedic of improperly transferring care. Local 624 is also challenging a settlement agreement Frausto presented to the paramedic following his suspension that would have required him to accept the factual basis for the discipline and release other potential claims. The lawsuit remains pending.
Other disputes cited in the censure center on how SAFD handles firefighters who temporarily cannot perform their regular duties.
In May, according to the resolution, a firefighter requested a workplace accommodation for a medical condition following childbirth. The union alleges SAFD initially required her to remain off work using her personal leave rather than providing an alternate-duty assignment.
Local 624 contacted department leadership and the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity administrator over the following weeks. The firefighter was eventually placed in a modified-duty position, but the union continued challenging whether the accommodation was sufficient and whether the personal time she had used should be restored. The resolution says those issues went unresolved until June 2.
That dispute came as SAFD implemented a new modified-duty policy May 1, replacing a policy that had been in place since 2007.
The union argues the new policy reduced protections for firefighters with injuries, illnesses or medical conditions and violated a provision of the collective bargaining agreement requiring certain existing working conditions to remain unchanged during the contract. A firefighter who says he was denied modified duty under the new policy filed a grievance in June seeking an assignment and restoration of sick leave. That grievance remains under review and has not been scheduled for arbitration.
The resolution also resurrects a dispute dating to last year over compensation for SAFD leadership.
Local 624 filed a grievance in June 2025 alleging the city unilaterally gave assistant and deputy fire chiefs 15% raises after the current firefighters contract was adopted without negotiating the change with the union. That grievance remains pending and has been assigned for arbitration.
The censure represents a significant public deterioration in the relationship between Frausto and the union less than two years after she became the first woman to lead SAFD.
Frausto, a San Antonio native and more than two-decade department veteran, described her first full year as chief in a January interview with the San Antonio Report as a “reset” focused in part on rebuilding morale and trust following a turbulent leadership transition.
At the time, Frausto said the department was trying to be mindful of decisions affecting firefighters and pointed to policy changes intended to improve flexibility and work-life balance.
This story originally appeared in the San Antonio Report.