A former lifeguard at Jacksonville Beach is telling her story publicly for the first time, alleging a culture of abuse and harassment among lifeguards that was tolerated by the City of Jacksonville Beach.
“This is a very pivotal moment, because I’ve wanted to speak up about this for years, but it’s really scary,” said former Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue lifeguard Nikki Emerson.
“I was a child,” Emerson said. “I mean, it was my first job ever — I knew nothing different. And I had just gone through the hardest training in my entire life. And I wasn’t going to not be one of them, you know?” The I-TEAM was also able to reach one of them, and they corroborated Emerson’s allegations about sexism. They also told the I-TEAM that no one with the city ever followed up with her.
According to Charles Bond, who is the past president of the Volunteer Lifesaving Corps board of directors, no one from the city reached out to the Corps about Emerson’s allegations about the beltline initiation ritual.He said the Corps would have investigated if they had known about the complaint. The I-TEAM said to Phitides, “Those are allegations of abuse involving children.” He responded, “I don’t recall those. Again, I’d have to look at the files. So you know, at this stage, I’ve not got much to say to you.”
Emerson said after she complained, Ocean Rescue changed its staffing policy to force her out. In the notes from the October meeting, Phitides wrote, “Rob Emahiser commented that available work slots will be offered to dependable lifeguards based [on] hours worked.”The I-TEAM asked Emahiser about Emerson’s complaints about sexism in the hiring process and about whether she was taken off the schedule because she complained.
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