Lawsuit: Former CA Chief Subjected to Racism, Retaliation

June 16, 2017
A lawsuit alleges an Ontario councilman used racist language to describe ousted fire chief Floyd Clark.

June 15--The former fire chief of Ontario is suing the city, its fire department and the city manager, alleging a hostile work environment existed and that he was retaliated against for refusing to give a financial promotion to a fire engineer.

According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Floyd E. Clark filed his initial lawsuit nearly 11 months ago, but in February he retained new trial lawyers who amended the complaint to add the racist and incendiary language a councilman used to refer to the chief.

The 57-year-old Clark, who had previously served as the president of the San Bernardino County Fire Association and was the first African-American fire chief in Ontario's history, was fired on June 29, 2016, after what he refers to as a "campaign, plan and scheme" by City Manager Al Boling to force him into early retirement.

"Not only was I unemployed, but my reputation as a professional has been ruined," Clark told the Daily Bulletin in a phone interview.

Clark alleges the retaliation began in October 2015 when Boling and Councilman Jim Bowman attempted to coerce him into signing a document that would have financially benefited a fire engineer with a higher pension after retirement.

In the amended complaint, Bowman is alleged to have made racist comments about Clark that were overheard by an unnamed council member on March 14, 2016.

The lawsuit says Boling then replied, "I will take care of this. I have a plan."

Clark said working conditions subsequently deteriorated to the point where he "worried about what they would do next to humiliate or degrade me."

The former chief says he hopes his lawsuit changes the environment and hiring practices of the Ontario Fire Department.

"It's been humbling to get fired and have to collect unemployment," Clark said. "I've never done that in my entire life. It's been extremely tough on me and my family. It's very hurtful, and I feel I didn't deserve this treatment."

Clark, who started his career with the Ontario department in 1986, added that he's never gotten the chance to go back to his office or take a farewell ride on an apparatus -- a custom for firefighters when the chief retires.

"My hope is justice can be done and the wrong can be righted," he said.

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