BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The city of Bakersfield may appeal the verdict in a lawsuit filed by a former Bakersfield fire captain that required the city to pay $700,000 for racism within its fire department.

In October, former Bakersfield Fire Department Captain Quincy Sloan won $700,000 in a lawsuit he filed against the city alleging racial and religious discrimination that prevented him from being promoted to battalion chief.

Sloan is African American and a Jehovah’s Witness.


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The Bakersfield City Attorney’s Office is asking the city council to approve an amendment in the city’s agreement with Clifford & Brown, the office that represented the city in the lawsuit, to add compensation.

The additional $750,000 could bring the the city’s total for legal representation in this case up to $1,100,000, according to the agenda.

The added amount would pay for the trial preparation, the two months of trial and post-trial motions. It would also pay for a “potential appeal,” the agenda said.

During the Bakersfield City Council Nov. 5, Sloan’s attorney Nancy Doumanian asked the city to honor the verdict and pay the judgment to bring closure to Sloan, rather than “spending taxpayer dollars” on an appeal.

“Appealing only prolongs the harm and deepens the divide, and what will bring this city together is not another legal battle in the appellate courts – it’s an act of leadership and decency that I’m calling upon you, imploring you, to follow,” Doumanian said at the meeting.

In an email to 17 News, Doumanian said the city is “taking steps consistent with appealing the jury’s verdict.”


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Below is the comment Doumanian provided regarding the city potentially challenging the ruling:

We are disappointed — but not surprised — that the City of Bakersfield has chosen to appeal the jury’s verdict in Captain Sloan’s case. A Kern County jury heard weeks of evidence, weighed every fact, and delivered a clear and powerful message: Captain Sloan was wronged. He gave 30 years of service to this community, earned a Medal of Valor, and deserved fairness — not mistreatment. We remain confident that the judgment will be upheld, and we will continue to stand with Captain Sloan as he fights to protect the rights of every firefighter who serves this city with integrity and heart.

The City Attorney’s Office said they have no comment because the case is still in litigation.

The Bakersfield City Council is scheduled to consider this matter at its 5:15 p.m. meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 1501 Truxtun Ave.