FORT LAUDERDALE — A city employee has resigned after flashing a sign to a female co-worker that said, “Let’s get naked,’’ then appearing before her in the office, dressed only in his socks.
David D. Daley, whose job was to protect other employees from workplace hazards, will face no criminal charges, authorities said.
City Manager George Gretsas did not respond to emails or messages left at his office. It is unclear what steps are being taken to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
Daley did not respond to emails or messages left at his Miramar home seeking comment.
“This is to advise you that I will be resigning my position as Safety and Technical Training Specialist with the City of Fort Lauderdale, effective the close of business Monday, February 2, 2009,” Daley wrote in a Jan. 29 resignation letter to the city’s director of human resources. “I understand and acknowledge that my resignation is ‘not in good standing’ because I did not give two weeks notice prior to my resignation as provided in the Personnel Rules.”
Daley’s resignation followed a Jan. 27 letter from the city’s public works director, placing him on administrative leave with pay pending a city investigation.
The allegations against Daley state that he made unwanted advances toward 36-year-old Daniela Metz, an accounting clerk in the Public Works Department’s finance division. Although Daley and Metz are in different divisions, both worked at the same, three-story Public Services administration facility at 949 NW 38 Street.
Metz told police that Daley repeatedly called her, “Hot Mama.’’
According to the police report, the nudity incident occurred on Friday, Jan. 23, at around 4 p.m., when Daley told Metz of his plans to go boating over the weekend. Minutes later, he went into her office and displayed a sign that read, “It’s Friday,” and left.
A short while later, he returned and showed her the other side of the sign, which read, “Let’s Get Naked,” before retreating to his own office.
Shortly thereafter, he called her on the phone and said, “I will do it, if you do it.”
Metz told police she responded, “go ahead,” meaning for him to leave her alone.
Minutes later, she looked up to find Daley peering around the door frame into her office with no shirt on. She repeatedly rebuffed him, and asked him to “stop and go away” several times. After leaving and returning several times, he returned again to her office, this time wearing nothing but his socks.
Metz told police she immediately put her hands to her face, and held them there for about a minute, because she was “embarrassed.’’
Metz told police that as Daley stood in front of her nude, he said, “I’m not afraid.”
Reached by phone at work on Monday, March 16, Metz confirmed the incidents, and asked how the newspaper learned of them, but would not discuss the matter further.
“Well, I have no comment,” she said.
It is unclear whether Metz intends to file a sexual-harassment lawsuit against Daley and/or the city.
In statements, to police, she distinctly described characteristics of Daley’s genitalia, including the fact that he is not circumcised, and said he remarked afterward that, “I thought you would take it as a joke,” and “I hope this stays between us.”
She told police that she said to Daley, “It’s not a joke. It’s not funny.’’
Metz did not return to work the Monday following the incident out of embarrassment, but did report the incident to supervisors and police.
Officials with the Broward State Attorney’s Office said they are unaware of the case because the victim never contacted them.
Fort Lauderdale police conducted a criminal investigation, but said they never forwarded their findings to prosecutors, either, because Metz did not wish to press charges.
“This case was never referred to the SAO [Broward State Attorney’s Office] because prosecution was declined. Furthermore, this crime is a misdemeanor and was not committed in our presence,” Fort Lauderdale Police spokesman Sgt. Frank Sousa said. “The police department has closed this case and it is no longer being worked.”
Daley, 42, was hired for the management-level position in the city’s Public Services Department on Nov. 28, 2005 and earned an annual salary of $59,654.40. His job duties included training employees throughout the city on workplace hazards and safety concerns.
His resignation letter came after the South Florida Times began its own inquiry into the incident. The letter makes no mention of the criminal investigation, or the accusations that he accosted Metz while nude, at work.
According to the police report, there were other incidents, including one that occurred on Tuesday, Jan. 20, when Daley was not nude, but did watch Metz as she was weighing herself on a scale in an employee break room.
He then suggested, “you should come into my office and weigh yourself without your clothes,” according to the report.
His advances persisted, despite her repeatedly telling Daley his antics were “not nice,” and to “leave her alone” and “stop and go away.”
Metz told police after the nudity incident that she did not want Daley to go to jail, “she just wants to be able to go to work and feel comfortable.’’
As a Safety and Training Specialist, Daley was on the job for just over three years when he submitted his resignation. He received good performance reviews throughout his tenure, but will get no severance pay or retirement benefits.
“Mr. Daley is not eligible for a pension, as he did not have the required 5 years of service at the time he left city employment,” city spokesman Jeff Modarelli said in an email to the newspaper.
In his most recent performance evaluation, which was completed on Nov. 28, 2008, Daley received a 7.5 percent pay raise and the city’s highest rating for employees. He was also given glowing marks for his attitude and interpersonal relations.
“David has formed close professional relationships with many of his coworkers and nearly all employees,” his then-supervisor, Patrick Joyce, wrote. “David has developed some personal relationships with many of his coworkers.”
EJones@SFLTimes.com
Photos: David Daley, left, and Daniela Metz, right.
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