EXCLUSIVE: Axed firefighter alleges racism BY SEAN AHERN 01/14/10
Gilbert Darrell, a seven-year veteran of the South Schenectady Fire Department, said he believes his dismissal in December was racially motivated, but those he is accusing contend that it is really just a personality conflict. Darrell is awaiting the final ruling on a 2008 harrassment complaint, which could include damages of up to $10,000. The decision is scheduled to be handed down in the coming weeks, and will be based on a November hearing regarding a human rights complaint Darrell filed with the state in September 2008 alleging “arbitrary disciplinary actions because of his race.” At the hearing, former colleague Robert Mercoglan testified on Darrell’s behalf, saying Chief James P. DeLorenzo, who left the department at the end of 2008, used Darrell’s race as “a means by which to humiliate and embarrass him.” Mercoglan also testified that he heard “derogatory remarks made about [the] complainant’s race, both by Chief James DeLorenzo and by fire commissioners William MacMillan and Louie Morrett.” Attorney Thomas Witz, who is representing Morrett and MacMillan, said the issues regarding Darrell and DeLorenzo, who attended the November hearing, are merely personality conflicts and firehouse politics. “This has nothing to do with race, and Mr. Darrell has played the race card,” said Witz. A volunteer firefighter with more than 12 years of experience, Darrell is working toward a paramedic degree at SUNY Cobleskill with the hope of becoming a full-time fireman and eventually earning a Ph.D in hospital administration. He said he is worried about the effect his record with South Schenectady will have on those plans. “It’s going to be hard to defend my position when they [other fire departments] look at my seven-year record at South Schenectady and look [to] the current administration for recommendations,” said Darrell. “I’m sure that there’s not a lot of good things that the current administration could say about me. … It would look really bad to anybody’s eyes unless there was something to back up my claims that I had been mistreated.” Darrell came to the South Schenectady Fire Department, serving Rotterdam Fire District No. 6, in 2002 as a volunteer, after working in Mariaville for five years. At that time, he said, he ran into some conflicts with then-Assistant Chief DeLorenzo, but said those higher up in the department treated him fairly. “I saw no severe repercussions during that time period,” said Darrell. When DeLorenzo became chief of the department in 2008, however, Darrell said he was put under extra scrutiny, and the board of fire commissioners didn’t do anything about it. “When James became chief in 2008, I really started to see a vast shift in what was occurring. Things that I would do would be looked at more harshly,” Darrell said. “I felt like I was getting in trouble more. I was getting called to the chief’s office more often. I was getting suspended more – really the ball started rolling downhill during this time.”................>>>>................>>>>.................http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=1263492628
Does anybody know how to find the opinion section of Spotlightnews.com online, as I can't find it. This was the factual piece. The editors of Spotlight News also wrote an opinion piece on this in the same paper and I was going to post it here, but I can't find it on their site. If someone could, it would be appreciated.
Does anybody know how to find the opinion section of Spotlightnews.com online, as I can't find it. This was the factual piece. The editors of Spotlight News also wrote an opinion piece on this in the same paper and I was going to post it here, but I can't find it on their site. If someone could, it would be appreciated.
I've looked for the opinion piece too and it isn't on-line.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Gilbert Darrell, a seven year veteran of the South Schenectady Fire Department, had his first of three complaints against the department on the basis of race dismissed on Thursday, April 29, by the New York State Division of Human Rights.
The ruling, which was based on a 2008 complaint field by Darrell alleging “arbitrary disciplinary actions because of his race,” was based on the findings of a November 2009 hearing. At the hearing, former colleague Robert Mercoglan testified on Darrell’s behalf, saying Chief James P. DeLorenzo, who left the department at the end of 2008, used Darrell’s race as “a means by which to humiliate and embarrass him.” Mercoglan also testified that he heard “derogatory remarks made about [the] complainant’s race, both by Chief James DeLorenzo and by fire commissioners William MacMillan and Louie Morrett.”
In the April 29 written opinion of Administrative Law Judge Edward Luban, the judge cites that the derogatory remarks that Mercoglan presented were “time-barred” and that the alleged discriminatory practice happened more than a year before the original complaint was filed. The judge also said that since Darrell did not lose any benefits and his material responsibilities were not significantly diminished by disciplinary actions, that the complainant was unable to show that he was a subject to unlawful discrimination.
Darrell came to the South Schenectady Fire Department, serving Rotterdam Fire District No. 6, in 2002 as a volunteer, after working in Mariaville for five years. During his time at the South Schenectady Fire Department, he ran into some conflicts with then-Assistant Chief DeLorenzo, but said those higher up in the department treated him fairly. When DeLorenzo became chief of the department in 2008, however, Darrell said he was put under extra scrutiny, and the board of fire commissioners didn’t do anything about it.
Attorney Tom Witz, who is representing South Schenectady Fire Department, said he is happy with the result of the decision.
“Obviously we are happy with the result of the case. It was the right result,” said Witz. “We’re happy to put it behind us and move on.”.................>>>>..................>>>>....................http://www.spotlightnews.com/news/view_news.php?news_id=1274736687
ROTTERDAM State dismisses firefighter’s latest claims of racial bias BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Racial bias allegations against the South Schenectady Fire District by one of its former offi cers were dismissed following an investigation by the state Division of Human Rights. Two complaints filed by Gilbert Darrell in November and December of 2009 accused the fire district of “committing unlawful discriminatory practices” against him during his tenure with the volunteer company. But in both cases, Regional Director Michael Kendell found that the fire district was within its rights to take disciplinary action against Darrell and ultimately expel him as a fi refighter after he landed three suspensions within a year. “The investigation revealed that there were legitimate nondiscriminatory business reasons as to why [Darrell] was suspended three times for violating various policies and procedures,” Kendell wrote in his Oct. 28 determination. Darrell, who was South Schenectady’s only black fi refi ghter for a time, joined the district in 2003 and achieved the rank of fi rst lieutenant four years later. He fi led his first complaint against the district in May 2009, claiming that then-Fire Chief James DeLorenzo’s harsh punishments toward him were fueled by prejudice and that a pair of fire commissioners had referred to him using a racial slur. Darrell’s trouble with the district started about three months after the 2007 election, when he was suspended for 30 days for driving his vehicle to a fire with its blue light activated while his driving privileges were suspended for failure to answer a summons. De-Lorenzo attempted to strip Darrell of his officer’s title but was later overruled by the district fi re commissioners. Over the next year, Darrell’s relationship with DeLorenzo and several other fi refighters in the department continued to sour. The tension between them came to a head following a fire call in August 2008, when the chief of a neighboring department accused Darrell of unprofessional conduct. Darrell was initially suspended, but reinstated after the allegation proved untrue. An attorney for the fire district later characterized the strife between Darrell and other members as a clash of personalities, but one that was devoid of racial undertones. .........................>>>>......................>>>>.....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01001&AppName=1
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