BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) \u2014 A Bakersfield fire captain won $700,000 in a lawsuit against the city after a jury found the city and its fire department guilty of race discrimination and retaliation.<\/p>\n
Edgar Quincy Sloan is a fire captain with the Bakersfield Fire Department who has served the department for over 30 years, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Nancy Doumanian, the attorney representing Sloan in the lawsuit, said at the Bakersfield City Council meeting on Wednesday that Sloan was the first Black firefighter in the department\u2019s history to reach the No. 1 position on the eligibility list to be promoted to battalion chief.<\/p>\n
Murder charge filed against driver arrested in 8-year-old\u2019s death <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAnd for the first time ever in this department\u2019s history, the department skipped over the number one candidate and promoted others ranked below him,\u201d Doumanian said at the meeting.<\/p>\n Doumanian said a local jury reached the verdict after nine weeks of trial.<\/p>\n According to Doumanian, the jury returned a verdict for Sloan for $700,000 against the city last week after they found the city failed to prevent race discrimination in the fire department.<\/p>\n \u201cThe jury did its job, and now it\u2019s time for the city to do its job to honor that verdict, pay the judgment and bring much needed closure to Capt. Sloan,\u201d Doumanian said publicly at the city council meeting.<\/p>\n Sloan also spoke at the meeting, saying he experienced discriminatory practices and harassment. He also said the lawsuit wasn\u2019t just about himself as it revealed systemic issues that affect employee morale, recruitment and public confidence in the city\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n \u201cEven through those difficult times, my commitment to this city has never waivered. I live here, I still believe in Bakersfield and I feel that Bakersfield can lead by doing what\u2019s right, not just when it\u2019s easy,\u201d Sloan said.<\/p>\n The complaint was filed in November of 2020.<\/p>\n The complaint said Sloan is African American and a Jehovah\u2019s Witness, and his religion was known to people at the department who weren\u2019t tolerant of his beliefs.<\/p>\n In 1992, after volunteering as an explorer then working as a reserve firefighter for five years, Sloan tested for a firefighter position in BFD, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n After being on the eligibility list for years, Michael Kelley, who was a fire chief at the time, was against hiring Sloan due to his hatred of African Americans, the complaint said.<\/p>\n After Sloan was given a provisional employment offer thanks to the community\u2019s support, the complaint said Kelley continued attacking Sloan and had captains Bob Oran and Jim Cross to put pressure on Sloan so he wouldn\u2019t pass probation.<\/p>\n After finally being hired in March of 1995, Sloan said he felt he was being denied training, promotion and other opportunities.<\/p>\n Gunshot wounds, as a percentage of Kern Medical\u2019s trauma cases, continue to drop <\/a><\/p>\n He also got \u201csham\u201d writeups, criticisms and was denied more favorable job opportunities, the complaint said.<\/p>\n Sloan was mocked by his colleagues and management at BFD for his and his family\u2019s religious beliefs. He was forced to participate in events that went against his beliefs but weren\u2019t necessary for his duties, according to the document.<\/p>\n According to the document, a captain told Sloan to study \u201creal hard\u201d because other white employees were saying \u201cnot to worry about Sloan\u00a0 promoting\u201d as he is an unintelligent African American applicant and, like the other African American firemen who failed the tests several times, he would also not be promoted.<\/p>\n After becoming a fire engineer, Sloan continued to be attacked by supervisors who wanted to get him fired, the complaint said.<\/p>\n Sloan reportedly continuously tried to be promoted, but would get rejected and his pay was even decreased by 5% without explanation, according to the document.<\/p>\n He was also called racial slurs and mocked for having what the fire personnel thought were stereotypical Black physical characteristics.<\/p>\n In 2004, Sloan was promoted to the fire captain position. While he continued to work and was never disciplined for violations, he kept being criticized and nitpicked. He also suffered hostile attitudes from others in the department for his religion and age.<\/p>\n Starting in 2018, Sloan went through the testing process several times for the battalion chief position as he met all qualifications, but never got the position. The lawsuit alleged the \u201cgood old white boys club\u201d within the management was making sure Sloan would never get the position.<\/p>\n The complaint said BFD has never had a Black battalion chief since the city was founded in 1869.<\/p>\n Sloan said Anthony Galagaza, the new fire chief hired in June of 2018, only fueled the racist environment in BFD.<\/p>\n When Sloan became No. 1 on the eligibility list for the battalion chief, the selection process changed, the lawsuit said. Sloan filed a grievance complaining of a flawed selection process but was denied from the position again.<\/p>\n Sloan was rejected from the position multiple times until January of 2019, and once he was passed over because he \u201cdoesn\u2019t fit\u201d the staff\u2019s \u201cvision,\u201d the complaint said.<\/p>\n After holding a formal grievance meeting with human resources and filing an appeal of the fire department\u2019s failure to promote him, Sloan started getting shunned by everyone in BFD, according to the document.<\/p>\n