Essay 4911

From The Los Angeles Times…

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Black firefighter awarded $1.17 million
Carter Stephens says harassment complaints to superiors in the Pasadena department only led to retaliation.

By Hector Becerra, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

A jury awarded $1.17 million Friday to a black former Pasadena firefighter who said he was forced to retire after complaining for five years about other firefighters leaving blood, urine and feces in his bedding and scrawling a swastika on his equipment.

The penalty was just the latest case of a black firefighter alleging discrimination against a fire department in Los Angeles and surrounding communities.

According to Carter Stephens’ suit, supervisors and co-workers also put mucus on his uniform and a captain referred to him by the “N” word.

Stephens, 55, said he felt vindicated after enduring racially-motivated attacks for five years.

“The general thought was, ‘You just have go ahead and take a beating. Maybe it’ll stop,’” he said. “That’s what I tried to do. But it wouldn’t stop.”

[To read the full story, click here.]