A federal jury has rejected an Oakland firefighter’s claim that he was repeatedly harassed and discriminated against because of the color of his skin.
Ronald El-Malik Curtis filed the lawsuit in 2010, alleging a pattern of abuse stemming from the fact that he was African American. In addition, Curtis claimed that the department often turned black individuals away from the job. When Curtis attempted to notify his supervisors of the discriminatory practices, the harassment got worse, he said. The mistreatment included colleagues hiding his keys from him and even placing a dead pigeon under his pillow.
A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a jury trial in the case last year, overturning a previous ruling by a U.S. District Court Judge that favored the city’s position. Last week, that jury also sided with Oakland, finding that there was no evidence to support Curtis’ allegations.
City Attorney Barbara Parker addressed the ruling in a statement.
“The City of Oakland takes every allegation of discrimination seriously and promptly conducted independent investigations into each of his allegations pursuant to standard operating procedures,” Parker said.
Read more about the ruling here.