Fla. City, NAACP Clash Over Ex-Fire Captain's Reinstatement

The NAACP has joined the battle to reinstate a high-ranking city firefighter after the DUI conviction cited in his firing was overturned.

But city officials now say former Capt. Rick Curtis' actions after he was pulled over for DUI -- not the conviction itself, or his earlier whistle-blowing allegations of racial discrimination by the city -- caused his firing. They've refused to rehire him.

Curtis was fired in May after a DUI conviction stemming from a January 2010 arrest in North Palm Beach. A retrial was ordered in June, after Curtis alleged that County Judge Marni Bryson, who heard the case in May, had an "intimate relationship" with a West Palm Beach fire union member who was on bad terms with Curtis.

In a December retrial, Curtis was acquitted and asked to be rehired.

City officials, though, said his acquittal didn't erase their contention that he used his status as a firefighter to seek special treatment from police, and that he displayed abusive behavior in jail.

North Palm Beach arresting officer Andrew Council testified in the first trial that Curtis handed him his West Palm Beach firefighter identification card when pulled over for speeding in 2010.

"If you listen to his sworn testimony in court, it is reasonable to conclude that what he was doing was asking the police officers to treat him differently because he was a firefighter in West Palm Beach," City Attorney Claudia McKenna said in March.

While Curtis acknowledged handing his firefighter identification to the officer, he said he also handed over his driver license and insurance card. Curtis' attorney, Bill Abramson, said that in any event the testimony from the first trial shouldn't play into the decision to fire Curtis.

"He was never accused of (misusing his position). That's a nonissue," said Abramson, who added that the officer was discredited in the second trial on Curtis' alleged speed. "Everything (in the first trial) got vacated. That trial doesn't count anymore."

In Curtis' termination letter, former Fire Chief Phil Webb cited Judge Bryson's determination that Curtis used his position as a member of the fire department "to try to gain some reciprocity" when he was pulled over. Bryson sentenced Curtis to three days in jail on the DUI charge, a stiffer penalty than the prosecution recommended.

Curtis has had earlier disagreements with West Palm Beach.

He is one of three West Palm Beach Fire Rescue workers who sued the city fire department, claiming that they were denied promotions because of their race. The suit didn't succeed, but in August 2010 the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity ruled that Curtis was discriminated against.

The city ignored the order from the administrative agency to pay Curtis $56,506 in lost wages and $24,000 in attorney fees and give him the next open battalion chief or assistant chief position, and the courts later quashed the West Palm Beach OEO ruling over jurisdiction. However, the Miami office is still investigating the case.

West Palm Beach NAACP President Lia Gaines sent a letter to Mayor Jeri Muoio in March, providing a list of examples that she said show Curtis was discriminated against while he was at the city. Gaines also argued that the city "knowingly conducted a promotional process for the positions of battalion chief of training and fire prevention, which were vacated by the two recently promoted assistant chiefs immediately following the termination of Curtis."

Gaines said that under Muoio, the city has "waged discriminatory practices in a matter heretofore never seen in recent times."

Muoio called Gaines' statements "irresponsible" and said the city is "working so hard to make sure none of that stuff happens here." Muoio also pointed out that she was mayor for less than two months when Curtis was fired, and wasn't in office during the times he claimed he was discriminated against.

Fire Chief Carlos Cabrera said the positions frozen while Curtis was still at the city were reinstated more than eight months after Curtis was fired, and not immediately after his departure.

In March, Muoio pointed to a jailhouse video following Curtis' DUI arrest. Curtis shouted at an officer, demanded to speak with a sergeant, and made kissing motions at the officer. However, in the video, Curtis never mentioned his position as a firefighter.

"Yeah I'm upset, yeah I called them a bad word," Curtis said, "but I never used my captain title the whole time."

But Muoio said in March that previous disciplinary actions taken against Curtis -- though not in his termination letter -- also played into the decision to fire him, including insubordination, excessive sick leave, falsifying records and sleeping on the job.

Curtis said many of the offenses were trumped up as retaliation from the city, which city officials deny.

"If I'm such a bad employee, why did they promote me all the way up to captain?" Curtis said. "I've been a target of retaliation. As a whistle-blower, when you tell what's going on, now you attract attention."

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