Ex-New Haven, CT, Fire Lieutenant Alleges Discrimination, Sues

A former New Haven fire lieutenant who was fired after being charged with sexual assault — a case that was later dismissed — has filed a multimillion dollar federal lawsuit alleging city officials violated his civil rights and terminated him based on the color of his skin.

Keith Norfleet, a 36-year-old Black man, was fired from the New Haven Fire Department in August 2024 before a jury later acquitted him on a sexual assault charge, according to a lawsuit filed by Watertown-based attorney Eric R. Brown on Norfleet’s behalf.

The complaint, which was filed last week in the U.S. District Court in Connecticut, alleges that city officials discriminated against Norfleet based on his race and treated him differently than multiple white firefighters who were also arrested but not fired. The 45-page complaint contends that city officials violated the 14th Amendment, the Civil Rights Act, the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act and the Clean Slate Act.

The lawsuit alleges that Norfleet’s firing was “premature, pretextual, and unlawful” and was based on a flawed internal affairs investigation. It also contends that city officials have refused to reinstate him despite the acquittal.

The complaint names the city of New Haven, the Board of Fire Commissioners, former fire chief John Alston, Jr. and former New Haven chief administrative officer Regina Rush-Kittle. It seeks to sue them in their personal and official capacities.

According to the lawsuit, Norfleet was making $110,000 a year as a fire lieutenant when he was fired. He had been with the department since July 2014.

Norfleet was arrested and charged with first-degree sexual assault in August 2023. He was initially placed on administrative leave following the arrest, “pending the outcome of an internal investigation and these legal proceedings,” Alston, who has since retired as chief, said in a statement at the time.

The arrest was tied to a complaint filed by a woman who told police she had met Norfleet in a bar in New Haven in late 2022 and that they had consensual sex at his apartment, the arrest warrant affidavit said. She alleged that Norfleet did not allow her leave the apartment when she refused to have sex with him again, police wrote in the warrant affidavit. She alleged that she was sexually assaulted and eventually allowed to leave.

Norfleet contested the accusations and took the matter to trial. A jury acquitted him in late 2024, the lawsuit states. About 2 ½ months earlier, city officials fired Norfleet after the city’s internal investigation was completed.

The lawsuit contends that the city’s treatment of Norfleet was vastly different than its treatment of other fire officials who had been previously arrested, including one who was charged with sexual assault. The complaint cites four other fire officials who were placed on leave.

The man who was charged with sexual assault, who is described in the complaint as a “white” male, was allowed to return to work after he was found not guilty, the lawsuit states.

Another firefighter, only described as a “white male,” allegedly was arrested on two separate occasions on one felony and six misdemeanors, the lawsuit said. He was given two hearings before the Board of Fire Commissioners and was allowed to resign rather than be fired, the complaint states.

Two other firefighters allegedly were arrested on domestic violence charges, including one who was accused of pulling a gun on his wife, and they were each given “last chance deals” that allowed them to continue working for the fire department, the lawsuit alleges. The complaint also contends that none of the firefighters who were arrested had their charges announced by city officials via a press release the way Norfleet’s arrest was publicized in statements from the police and fire departments.

“These press releases constituted unprecedented, extraordinary treatment that no other New Haven firefighter facing criminal allegations has ever received,”  Brown states in the complaint.

The lawsuit also alleges that part of the basis for Norfleet’s firing was a flawed internal affairs investigation that included the disclosure of his previous arrests. Those charges were ultimately dropped and were supposed to be erased from public disclosure, the lawsuit said.

The arrests were made by the Hamden Police Department in 2021 and 2022 on negligent storage of a firearm, interfering with a 911 call and disorderly conduct charges, the complaint said. Despite the charges being dismissed in early 2023, the arrests were referenced in the city’s internal affairs report and used as evidence to support a “pattern of misconduct” and the decision to fire Norfleet, the lawsuit alleges.

When Alston requested the records tied to the arrests from Hamden police, he received an email from the acting chief in 2023 indicating the cases had been dismissed and that the records were ordered to be erased, according to the lawsuit. The complaint contends that he later referenced the arrests in arbitration proceedings and in his recommendation to the fire board that Norfleet be fired.

The lawsuit also alleges that the internal affairs investigation was flawed in multiple ways, describing it as “merely a ‘cut and paste’ job” based substantially on” the New Haven police investigation.

The Board of Fire Commissioners held a special meeting on Aug. 8, 2024, and, after going into executive session, voted unanimously to fire Norfleet, the lawsuit said. Since he was acquitted of the sexual assault charge, city officials have refused to allow him to return to work, the lawsuit states.

The civil action demands a jury trial and for Norfleet to be reinstated as a lieutenant with the fire department, restoring his pension and other benefits. It is also seeking backpay and compensation for all lost pay and benefits and the damage to his reputation.

The lawsuit is seeking more than $3.5 million.

In a statement to the Courant, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker noted that Board of Fire Commissioners voted to terminate Norfleet “for violations of departmental rules and regulations, and the Connecticut State Board of Mediation & Arbitration has upheld the city’s decision.”

“While the city has not yet been served with any new federal complaint, we will continue to defend this decision and that Mr. Norfleet’s violations of departmental rules and regulations warranted termination,” Elicker said.

“Overwhelmingly, New Haven firefighters hold themselves to the highest standards of professionalism and put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve our residents and keep our city safe. However, when a firefighter deviates from these high standards like what occurred with Mr. Norfleet, there must be accountability for their actions and that those actions will not tolerated by the New Haven Fire Department,” Elicker added.

Brown, Alston and Rush-Kittle did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

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