In new records filed in a former Toledo Fire recruit’s lawsuit over racial discrimination, five people allege that Chief Brian Byrd himself has raised similar complaints in private, though publicly he denies problems at the department.
Signed affidavits from former Toledo mayor and current State Rep. Paula Hicks-Hudson, as well as retired firefighter Tim Ross, say Chief Byrd told them he was self-demoting in 2016 from deputy chief to a battalion chief because he “was treated so badly and that he was suffering personally from the racially charged hostile work environment.” The Chief also reportedly made the same comments to councilman Larry Sykes, Battalion Chief David Hitt, and University of Toledo professor emeritus Earl Murry, court records say.
Ms. Hicks-Hudson, who was mayor in 2016, said she asked Chief Byrd why he didn’t come to her about the alleged discrimination before stepping down from his deputy chief position, and that he replied “he just couldn’t take it anymore.”
Mr. Ross, who retired from the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department in 2006 but stayed connected with the chief through the training academy, said Chief Byrd has come to him numerous times with racial discrimination concerns.
Once, Chief Byrd complained that the other deputy fire chiefs were having internal affairs meetings without him, even though it was his area of purview. “The Black Chief doesn’t get invited, go figure,” Chief Byrd reportedly told Mr. Ross. Then, after the self-demotion, he said Chief Byrd told him, “Tim, there’s so much going on here, you wouldn’t believe it and I see it,” which Mr. Ross said he “clearly understood him to be referring to the discrimination he was experiencing and suffering from as the only Black Deputy Fire Chief.”
Mr. Smith’s attorney has filed a request for admission to force Chief Byrd to respond to the allegations under oath.
The affidavits were filed in an ongoing lawsuit in which Major Smith, III, who is black, says he was wrongfully terminated from the June 2018 academy class based on his race. He alleges he was forced to meet higher training requirements than his white counterparts.
The city has said that Mr. Smith, who was 23 at the time, failed multiple attempts to complete the ventilation portion of his physical test — a state mandate requiring recruits to cut a 4-by-4 square in the roof of a burning structure within a certain time parameter. He was given remedial training but ultimately did not meet the standard, according to records in his personnel file.
Since he did not meet the testing requirement, Mr. Smith was given the option to resign or be terminated. The recruit was terminated under then-Chief Luis Santiago's administration.
In a phone call with The Blade Monday, Mr. Santiago denied allegations of discrimination under his administration, saying it “did not come up at all” in his seven years as chief. He also said he had no knowledge of the alleged reasons for Chief Byrd self-demoting. At the time, Chief Byrd “never gave me a direct answer,” and that was his right, he said.
The Blade asked Monday to speak with Chief Byrd, but a Toledo Fire spokesman directed all questions relating to the lawsuit to the city’s law department. Law Director Dale Emch reiterated the city’s position that Mr. Smith was terminated based on performance.
“The gentleman was unable to pass that vertical ventilation test that the rest of his class took,” Mr. Emch said. “That’s why he did not succeed.”
Mr. Emch said he was aware of Chief Byrd’s alleged statements of discrimination in the affidavits, but declined to comment on them. Ms. Hicks-Hudson did not return calls for comment about her exchange.
Publicly, Chief Byrd has repeatedly denied that any form of discrimination exists within the department.
“I’ve been a huge proponent of diversity,” he told The Blade in September, citing growth from three black female firefighters to now six.
But two men who worked with Chief Byrd accused him in sworn testimony of contributing to the culture of racial discrimination and working to cover it up.
Mr. Hitt testified to a pattern of discrimination at the training academy in which African American recruits are “not treated fairly because of unabated race-based discrimination precluding them from successfully completing the Academy...conditions which have worsened under Chief Byrd’s administration,” court records said.
In Mr. Ross’s affidavit, he said Chief Byrd vowed to fix ongoing racism in the department but now accused him of “covering it up.”
A white recruit has not been terminated from the department since at least 2010, though seven white recruits have resigned, TFD records showed in September.
Discrimination in the department, both racial and gender related, has been a repeated topic of discussion in the past two years following a series of complaints by recruits and current firefighters.
Battalion Chief Sally Glombowski, who recommended Mr. Smith’s termination in 2018, recently filed her own complaint of discrimination with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, alleging she was held “to a stricter standard of evaluation” and was moved to a different position based on her age and gender. The commission did find probable cause in that case, but in October had not yet filed a complaint, meaning conciliation attempts with the city may still be ongoing.
Former fire recruit Sierra Adebisi filed a complaint this summer with the OCRC alleging racial and gender discrimination after she was terminated from the department in August, hours before the rest of her academy class graduated. The city cited a number of documented infractions in her termination.
Randall Fuller, an African-American recruit terminated from the same class as Ms. Adebisi, also filed a racial discrimination complaint with the OCRC on Aug. 19.
A 14-year-old gender discrimination case filed by two firefighters concluded with a split decision in October. Claims made by retired captain Carla Stachura were denied, but the jury did find that Pvt. Judi Imhoff suffered adverse employment action and awarded her $150,000.
Other accusations of sexual discrimination in the department are ongoing.
The Ohio Civil Rights Commission this summer found that Karen Marquardt, the department’s first female assistant chief, a position she held for four years, was likely denied a promotion to chief and later harassed because of her gender. The title was awarded to Chief Byrd.
The commission also found probable cause that the department subjected Lt. Kari Gonzalez to differential treatment and retaliation based on her gender.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is initiating litigation in the cases involving Ms. Marquardt and Ms. Gonzalez.
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