The FDNY sued for discrimination alleging it wanted to “destroy” careers
New York City Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh was hit with an age discrimination lawsuit, targeting older senior employees with demotions, retaliation and forced retirements.
Several high-ranking FDNY employees in the late 50s and early 60s sued Kavanagh, the city’s first female fire commissioner, for unspecified damages, back wages and the reversal of job titles under state human rights laws, according to a 53-page lawsuit filed. in Brooklyn State Supreme Court first published From the New York Post.
According to the lawsuit, the employees were forced to work in a hostile and retaliatory work environment.
Kavanagh, according to the lawsuit, “not only ended, and literally destroyed, their long and distinguished careers” but also attempted to “replace Plaintiffs and other senior employees with younger employees.”
CHRISTIE BRINKLEY SPEAKS OUT AGAINST AGING: ‘SHE GETS SOME CONFIDENCE’
Cardinal Timothy Dolan (C), FDNY (Fire Department of New York) Commissioner Laura Kavanagh (C) and Mayor Eric Adams (R) attend the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade on 5th Avenue. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“The victims were targeted because they were in or near their 60s,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit was filed by former FDNY Assistant Director of Fire Prevention Joe Jardin, 61, Assistant Chief of Operations Michael Gala, 62, and Chief of Uniformed Services Michael Massucci, 59.
NEW YORK CHILDREN RESCUED AFTER CALLING 911 TO REPORT THEY WERE ‘REPORTED IN THE SEWERS’
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh at Staten Island University Hospital in Staten Island on Feb. 17, 2023, after three firefighters were critically injured in a fire. (Gardiner Anderson/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The complaint follows a 36-page lawsuit It was presented in FebruaryKavanagh accused him of acting as a “political operative” by demoting and reassigning chiefs of staff at the expense of public safety.
The filing cites a Feb. 6 New York Daily News article that cites anonymous sources as saying that Schaaf “restrained from transferring and disciplining some firefighters” when “allegations of racism” were made at a Queens fire station. the city’s Office of Equal Employment Opportunity” for his “tough management style,” and called Gala a “divisive element in the department.”
‘WHITE EMPTY’ AUTHOR WARNS PEOPLE OF COLOR TO ‘AWAY FROM WHITE PEOPLE’
A New York City Fire Department Ladder truck goes on a rescue mission with firefighters. (iStock)
The lawsuit alleges that before joining the FDNY in 2014, Kavanagh worked as a “political operative” on campaigns and never had “a day as a firefighter.”
“Kavanagh has no firefighting experience and only worked on the civilian side of the FDNY before being promoted to Commissioner.”
ERIC ADAMS WANTS NYC TO BE “GOD’S PLACE” RELIGION PREVIOUSLY LEADS THROUGH PANDEMIC
Kavanagh was appointed FDNY Commissioner by Mayor Eric Adams in October 2022.
Before the lawsuit was filed, Kavanagh defended himself against criticism that he had demoted some of the department’s top officials. Interview with Spectrum News.
“I think sometimes people forget that I’m new because I’ve been in the department for almost a decade, but I’m only a few months into my term, and I want to be my team,” said the commissioner.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Every commissioner has changed their team, so it’s been a while. Commissioner [Daniel] Nigro was there for almost eight years, so I think maybe that’s why it looks new, but it really isn’t.’
“We will review the case once it is reported,” a spokesperson for the city’s Law Department told Fox News Digital. Mayor Adams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fox News’ Danielle Wallace contributed to this report
