BOSSIER CITY, La. (AP) -- Bossier City taxpayers have so far spent about $114,000 on the racial discrimination lawsuit that 20 current and three former black Bossier City firefighters brought against the city and some officials, only to see the case still in its early stages nearly three years after it was filed.
Meanwhile, most of the plaintiffs still work at the Bossier City Fire Department alongside a handful of people who have publicly disputed their claims and others who have not taken a stand either way in the kind of job where people literally depend on their co-workers for their lives.
The situation has resulted in a small group of people working at the department virtually ignoring those firefighters involved in the lawsuit, several of the suing firefighters said.
The lawsuit alleges the city discriminates against blacks in hiring, promotion and disciplinary practices and maintains a hostile work environment and calls for monetary compensation for the plaintiffs.
``It's just a very cold environment, and it's just stressful,'' said Reginald Broomsey, a nine-year employee of the department involved in the suit. ``I think some of the guys have the attitude that 'you're embarrassing the Fire Department' but, you know, it's my fire department too.''
James Lonadier, an 18-year veteran of the department who is white, said many white firefighters had hurt feelings immediately after the suit was filed, but it only took about two weeks for people to begin interacting as normal, cooking, watching TV, playing basketball and acting ``like a family'' again.
``As far as the daily relations between the firefighters, you would never know there is a lawsuit,'' said Lonadier, who serves as president of the local firefighters' union, which represents about 185 firefighters.
City spokesman Mark Natale said Interim Fire Chief Sammy Halphen will not comment on pending litigation. Natale also wrote in an e-mail that Halphen was instructed by City Attorney Jimmy Hall to not answer questions about the current relationships among firefighters and whether taxpayers have any reason to worry the department is not performing at the highest level.
The lawsuit and the fire department have gained attention in recent weeks as the members of the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters, and separately, four firefighters not involved in the lawsuit, including Lonadier, organized news conferences at City Hall to respectively support and deny the discrimination claims.
The incidents have dredged up an issue that Lonadier said the majority of firefighters just want to see resolved, at least in part because it could chip away at the public's perception of the department as a whole.
Twenty-five of the 210 people working on the Fire Department are black, according to city records dated last month. Albert Lewis, a Bossier City firefighter for more than 15 years who is black, agreed the suit is bad for the department and that firefighters do, in fact, associate with those involved in the suit.
Before the lawsuit was filed, Lewis filed a grievance to change the department's policy of requiring applicants to have EMT certification, a rule that has since been changed. He also went to top department officials three times before the suit was filed after he overheard racial slurs and, again, resolved the situation, he said.
``I see these guys every day, laughing, joking and playing,'' Lewis said. The firefighters suing the city and officials ``don't go in the back room in a cubby hole and hide.''
Broomsey and about five others in the lawsuit said they too would like to put the issue to rest. However, they won't quit until they feel everyone is on ``a level playing field,'' said Don Taylor, who is black and has been a member of the department for 12 years.
Firefighters filing the suit cited instances in which they said black employees were disciplined unfairly, overlooked for promotions and had nooses tied in the rear view mirror of their work vehicles, among other things.
It would be much easier, Taylor said, for the people who filed suit to walk away and simply try to fit in with everyone else. The decision would end the mounting legal bills and stress their families have endured. But, he said, that wouldn't be the right thing to do.
``We're standing on truth. We're standing on purpose,'' Taylor said.
In the meantime, both sides said they aren't allowing the lawsuit to interfere with their job.
``When the bells go off, and it's time to do your job ... you don't even think about that,'' Lonadier said.