Deputy Fire Chief of Baltimore Fire Department Files Lawsuit

A federal lawsuit was filed last week by the chief in charge of recruiting Baltimore firefighters. The lawsuit was filed against the Fire Department and against the city for what the chief claims are racially discriminatory employment practices.

Since the end of July, Lloyd Carter has been the deputy chief of recruitment for the department. Carter claims that he was repeatedly passed over for promotions, with the most recent one occurring last month, and has been the focal point of internal investigations as a result of his race. Carter, who is African American, is looking for $3 million in damages.

James S. Clack is the Fire Chief, and he said he first heard of the suit last Friday but had not spoken with Carter about the lawsuit. By midafternoon Friday, the lawsuit had not been served on the fire department, according to Chief Kevin Cartwright, a spokesman for the department. George Nilson, the city solicitor, also said that the lawsuit had not yet been served on the city, so he could not comment on the situation.

Carter previously served as the deputy chief of education and training, overseeing the city’s fire academy before he was promoted to the head of recruiting. The majority of the complaint involves an incident that occurred in June, when test questions were given to a student by an instructor. After the problem occurred, Carter was sent to a new position.

“Clack removed Carter from his position without any warning or advance notice, and transferred him to a newly created position of Deputy Chief for Recruitment,” the complaint reads, according to the Baltimore Sun. “The position did not exist. It did not have any duties or responsibilities.”

Clack told the paper that Carter was not moved because of the test problem, but instead an investigation showed that there were other concerns about the academy at the time.

“It’s becoming obvious that some of the folks that worked for [Carter] cut corners and did some things that they shouldn’t have been doing,” Clack said in late July.

Carter has now been transferred to a new position two times in his 30-year career with the fire department. Carter claims that the scandal revealed wrongdoings by a white officer that were ignored by the fire department.

Back in 2008, Carter was passed over for fire chief in favor of Clack, according to the filing. Clack is white and was hired from outside of the department.

Carter told the paper that he is still employed by the fire department but declined to comment on the lawsuit. Carter’s attorney is Neal Janey, who said the lawsuit should be served on the city and the fire department sometime this week.