Former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown contends President Donald Trump forced him off the National Transportation Safety Board as part of a broader ouster of Black leaders from independent federal agencies.
Brown leveled the race discrimination claim Dec. 4 in an ongoing federal case that seeks his return to the National Transportation Safety Board that he says Trump illegally fired him from in May.
The Trump administration has countered the president has full authority to dismiss board members without having to show cause for the removal.
Brown, who served as mayor from 2011 to 2015, was appointed by President Joe Biden to the National Transportation Safety Board and confirmed by the Senate in 2024 for a term running through Dec. 31, 2026. Trump forced Brown off the board in May.
Jennifer Homendy (center), Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks at a press conference on Mar 27, 2024 with lead investigator Marcel Muise (left) and NTSB member Alvin Brown, to give updates on the investigation into the crash of a container ship into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The Francis Scott Key Bridge, a major span over the Patapsco River in Baltimore, collapsed after it was struck by a large container ship, prompting a massive emergency response for multiple people in the water.
“When you look at who has been removed without cause and who has been left in place, the pattern is impossible to ignore,” Brown said in as statement. “Black commissioners across the federal government have been summarily fired.”
He said his “abrupt removal was unlawful, and it was discriminatory. I’m taking this step to ensure what happened to me does not happen in the shadows.”
Robert Primus, who was ousted from the Surface Transportation Board, also added a racial discrimination claim to his federal lawsuit over his removal by the Trump administation.
“I was removed abruptly, without cause and without any legal justification,” Primus said. “It’s clear this removal fits a larger pattern within this administration of targeting Black officials.”
Brown filed a lawsuit in June contending federal law spells out that board members can only be removed for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. Brown’s lawsuit said Trump did not show any cause for removing him so it was illegal.
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The Trump administration has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the law requiring a president to show cause for a removal is unconstitutional.
Democracy Forward and Justice Legal Strategies represent both Brown and Primus in their federal lawsuits.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Alvin Brown adds race discrimination to lawsuit against Trump