Black and Latino employees of the Los Angeles Fire Department want the federal government to investigate allegations of rampant discrimination and racial bias within the agency.
The call for an investigation comes after the Los Angeles Times' reporting on a senior white official, Chief Deputy Fred Mathis, who was treated differently than other employees after being accused of being under the influence on the job.
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"[This] is just one of many examples that we have come to know, which demonstrates a pattern and practice of corruption and potential violations of civil rights within the Los Angeles Fire Department," said assistant chief Patrick Butler, president of the Latino group of firefighters.
"We all want and demand accountability and transparency from our civic leaders and government services," Butler wrote, adding, "The men and women of the LAFD deserve nothing less."
Gerald Durant, president of the Black firefighters union, said he previously requested the Fire Commission look into the allegations.
The call for an investigation comes after the Los Angeles Times' reporting on a senior white official, Chief Deputy Fred Mathis, who was treated differently than other employees after being accused of being under the influence on the job.
The Los Angeles mayor's office said the City Attorney has already initiated an independent investigation.
"The Mayor is concerned … and expects full cooperation from members of his administration," said a statement from Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The Times reported that leadership withheld filing a complaint against the white firefighter under the influence for three days. Then, the outlet discovered officials allowed him to use sick leave to cover the day he's alleged to have shown up to work intoxicated.
Butler and Durant said the fire department's approach to the incident violated civil rights laws and amounted to a cover-up. Both believe the LAFD is so badly plagued with prejudice that only a federal investigation will amount to real change.
Other incidents raise the concern of disparate treatment for Black and Latino firefighters. For example, a white firefighter accused of punching and suffocating a Black man on a gurney kept his job. But a Black firefighter the department claimed lied about attending rehab for a past DUI was forced to resign.
A half dozen Black employees filed a lawsuit against the LAFD last month, accusing the leadership of being a "good old white boys club" that rarely promotes minority workers.
In an email, the Fire Commission told Butler it is concerned "about disciplinary issues being disproportionately applied to people of color," saying they hope "to get to [the] bottom of that."
An LAFD representative said more than 50% of the department's nearly 4,000 firefighter and civilian employees are nonwhite, the Times reported. However, it's unclear what percentage of senior leadership is nonwhite.
