Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
A Montebello fire captain who sued the department for race discrimination in 2013 and 2017, has filed his third race discrimination lawsuit. Captain Vernon Creswell filed suit yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging for retaliation, disability discrimination, and violation of the California Firefighter Procedural Bill of Rights.
Captain Creswell was placed on administrative leave last August when the department began investigating him. The department has subsequently issued him a notice of intent to terminate, and his Skelly Hearing (aka Loudermill Hearing for non-Californians) is scheduled for December 30, 2020. The complaint alleges the current discipline is attributable to his earlier lawsuits as well as his complaints about racism in the department.
Captain Creswell prevailed in his first lawsuit, with a jury in 2015 awarding him $935,150 in damages, $185,150 in lost wages and $750,000 for emotional distress. The 2017 suit alleged he was wrongfully passed over for promotion to battalion chief. That case is schedule to go to a jury trial in April 2021.
Here is a copy of the complaint:
