A former FDNY firefighter who was fired for wearing a T-shirt promoting a group which is against racial hiring quotas is accusing the department of upholding a double standard after a photo recently appeared on social media of an on-duty firefighter wearing a Black Lives Matter-related shirt.
“This is a slap in the face,” Thomas Buttaro, who was terminated from the department in 2015, told the New York Post.
Buttaro's dismissal happened after he wore a T-shirt supporting Merit Matters, a now-defunct organization opposed to FDNY racial quotas. The department is under a court order to hire more Black and Hispanic firefighters, and Buttaro was accused of insubordination and "creating a hostile environment" after Black firefighters complained about Buttaro wearing the shirt to and from shifts.
Buttaro, who is white, is still fighting his firing in court, and he was upset by the photo of a Black firefighter from Engine 234 wearing a T-shirt with a Black power fist and FDNY lettering along with the words "Black Lives Matter," "Never Forget" and "400 Years of Slavery." Buttaro had served with Engine 234 before his termination, and the fire company is headed up by Capt. Paul Washington, who leads the Vulcan Society, according to the Post.
“My off-duty dress to and from work was regulated," Buttaro said. "The photo of the BLM shirt was taken while the wearer was on duty. I find it a divisive shirt to be worn in the firehouse.”
In the photo, the Black firefighter is seen wearing the T-shirt in the kitchen of Engine 234. The majority of the members of Engine 234/Ladder 123 in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn are Black.
On Sept. 4, FDNY Chief of Operations Thomas Richardson sent out a department-wide memo reminding members about the dress code, which states that “at no time may a T-shirt be worn” in lieu of department-issued work shirts. The memo did not mention the Engine 234 T-shirt, and the department would not comment on the photo.
