EXHIBIT 2-D

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

PENSACOLA DIVISION

1-

CASE NO.3:05cv286/MCR
Plainnrts,

v.
CITY OF PENSACOLA,
Defendant.

AFFIDAVIT OF

t.

Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared

being by me first duly sworn deposes and states under oath as follows:

)who,
-

I am an African American. I began work at the Pensacola Fire Department on

October 2, 1988. From the beginning of my employment until the present, I have
experienced ostracism and unfair treatment. I have observed many white firefighters with
less seniority, education and experience get preferential treatment with regard to:
(1)
apparatus;

(2)

On-the-job training opportunities on important fire truck equipment and other

Opportunities to further their education sponsored by the City;

(3)
Opportunities to earn more money than I, by being given coveted overtime
assignments; and
(4)
Opportunities to prepare for promotion tests when white firefighters were
given advance notes with the actual substance of the tests, the tests are graded unfairly,
or test dates are moved to accommodate white firefighters.
I have also endured a continuous hostile work environment that told me that I and
other African Americans were not welcome in the Pensacola Fire Department. This sense
of being unwelcome was communicated directly to me by one of my supervisors when I
was first hired. He told me that I should apply for a position in Jacksonville, because there
would be many more opportunities for me to progress in the fire department there. I found
his comments very disheartening and unfortunately prophetic since my career progression
opportunities at the Pensacola Fire Department were indeed limited unfairly.

During my earlier years, I would hear white firefighters refer to other African
Americans and sometimes me as "niggers." I was aware that my fellow African Americans
were being called "DAN," which stood for "Dumb Ass Nigger," This made me angry and
I complained about it to my then superiors, including Chiet'
Jut no one took any
>

correctiveaction.

I wrote a complaint about some of the racist jokes that were told verbally or were
passed around the wnrlr')lace without anyone objecting to them. A copy of my complaint
is attached. ChiefL-.. ~met with me and told me that I was "+"" sensitive," and that
people were just joking and I should not complain. Then Chief
.eqan to completely
ignore me as if I was not present. He no longer would address me directly. If he had
anything to say to me, then he would send the message to me through another person.
This was outrageous and humiliating. The message was clear - you complain about
racism and you will be punished.
/

On another occasion, my supervisor, \.

~ dressed up in a white sheet
and came and asked me if I felt at home. I was nauseated and very upset with him about
this. My Captain had violated my trust as my supervisor and as a friend. I had shared with
him that one of my best friends in the Army had been a white soldier who had previously
been in the KKK. It was overwhelming.
At the same time that I was enduring snide comments and racist jokes with my
superior's consent, I was being treated adversely by my delay in obtaining appropriate onthe-job training as a firefighter so that I could learn and become proficient in driving a truck.
This skill was essential to passing a promotion test. but it was denied to me and many
other African Americans. The way the white operators denied this training to African
Americans would be that we would be moved from station to station for many years, so that
we would be the firefighter with the least seniority at a station. This enabled the white
firefighters who had been there only a few months to begin driving a truck before me,
although I had been a firefighter for several years. This practice was so consistent toward
Blacks and also the few whites that stood up against racism. We called it getting the
"Black treatment."
In addition, Black firefiahters were moved around tremendously. From day one I
was told by my supervisor, r ~ _
:.~- that there was an unwritten department policy that
was being strictly adhered to -that limited the number of Blacks at any given fire station at
one time to one, and I was the one that was assigned to Station 1. It truly seemed that my
presence was unwelcome.
I saw this different treatment in several other ways. In the late 19905, I wanted to
get a look at the Captain's exam, so J took it without really studying just to get a gauge on
the type of questions presented. Not surprising to me, I did not pass, since I had not
prepared in earnest. When the next opportunity arose to test for the Captain's test, I did
plan to study and prepare for it. I took my qualifications to take the test to Suzanne
Humphrey, who worked for the City and she accepted that I made the eligibility
requirement as I had done in the previous test. Then a few days later, she said that one
of my courses did not count and that I was disqualified from taking the test. I was
astounded since this same qualification had been accepted by Ms. Humphrey during the
prior test cycle.
I complained to her about this being unfair and I told her that she had favored white
firefighters in the past by accepting prior experience distantly related to firefighting, but

excluded work as an actual firefighter for African American firefighters, so that she
prevented African Americans from competing fairly.
Finally, a few days before the Captain's test, Ms. Humphrey called me and said she
would accept myoid course, but the harm had already been done. At that point, I did not
have enough time to prepare for the test, so I was prevented from competing for a
promotion.
I am aware that Ms. Humphrey denied several other African American firefighters'
acceptance of their qualifications for testing, but accepting the same or less qualifications
for white firefighters.
/

On another occasion, Ms. Humphrey actually switched the testing dates for \.
_
__
" a white firefighter, so that he had sufficient time to take a qualifying course, At
the same time she moved up the test that I was scheduled to take and in so doing made
it impossible for me to adequately prepare for my test again.
I also was treated adversely when I requested overtime to rebuild and inspect the
air packs. This was something that I learned how to do on my own and I was the person
who trained the other firefighters initially. Then the Department paid for the training of two
white firefighters and after that they were the only ones selected for the air pack repair.
I have asked to provide this service and obtain this overtime pay continuously, but this was
denied to me. Only the two white firefighters were given this opportunity to earn about
$5,000.00 more every year since before 2003.
I am also aware o~
,'in 1999 and Afrir~1'" "---;~~n firefighter ~ .
~-_----"~~n2002 finding nooses at the workplace and of'
-~'.'resenting a noose to
African American"-and asking him to step outside so that he could be fitted
for a necktie. This was done after they watched the racially violent film, "Mississippi
Burning."
One of the last things that the City and the Union did was to secretly plan for six
Captain slots to open up, although only one slot was posted as being available. Only the
white firefighters were made aware of the great opportunities for a promotion, so only the
white firefighters studied for and took the test. This was totally unfair and was another
example of white firefighters getting inside information that allowed them to compete for
more slots with little or no competition. Given all of the City's concerted efforts to prevent
my progression in the Pensacola Fire Department, I did not think that if only one Captain
slot was available, that it was ~ ijgp,d opportunity for me to take the test, but I would have
definitely taken t~e test if I ~ad }{qpwn there were six Captain slots available. I know that
several other African American firefighters felt the same way, because they told me so.
It seems incredible that the government can actually post one announcement to
intentionally mislead the public about the number of positions available, and at the same
time secretly have six Captain slots available that only the favored white firefighters knew
about. This is yet another example of how white supervisors and city officials control the
system of competition for progression in the department, so that white firefighters always
benefit to the detriment of African American firefighters.

-
~
Sworn to by

as identifioation ~

--,,-wt,o is pel'9onally known to me or Who produced~_

states that he signed the above Affidavit on this

1:Z

day of

T.IIICICB
JfY OOMIII$SICN , IJt) 1lI1lM2
EXPmES:~l:!7.!!I1.I!

lIIinIfocI1IIIuNallilJ"-~

Notary Public

My Commission Expires: 9/'d"l-1d..(J)\'d..

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09/18/2008 THO 17105

[JOB NO. 9752]