Federal Judge Dismisses OH Firefighter's Discrimination Lawsuit
A federal judge on Thursday ruled Toledo officials did not racially discriminate against a black Toledo Fire & Rescue Department recruit when they fired him in 2018.
Major Smith III filed a lawsuit against the city in December, 2018, in U.S. District Court alleging that racial discrimination lead to his termination from the fire department.
Judge Jack Zouhary dismissed the complaint Thursday.
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“The City of Toledo bent over backwards to help Major Smith become a firefighter. He failed not because of racial discrimination, but because he was unable to perform a critical skill that firefighters need to protect their communities,” Judge Zouhary wrote in his decision.
Mr. Smith said in the lawsuit that he was repeatedly discriminated against based on his race during his training, that he was forced to meet higher training requirements than his white counterparts, and that administrators were aware that he was facing discrimination.
Mr. Smith failed multiple attempts to complete the ventilation portion of his physical test — a state mandate requiring recruits to cut a 4-by-4-foot square in the roof of a burning structure within a certain time parameter — after he was given remedial training, 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, officials said. He was terminated under then-Chief Luis Santiago’s administration.
Judge Zouhary in his decision wrote that city officials treated Mr. Smith as well as, if not better than, the other recruits in his class.
“His three March failures could have been the end of his tenure with the fire department, but Defendants instead gave him six more chances, along with hours of one-on-one help,” the judgement states. “No recruit had ever received more than three opportunities to pass the vertical-ventilation test.”
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