For months before Sierra Adebisi was fired, the former Toledo Fire & Rescue recruit was written up, reprimanded, and repeatedly scolded for what instructors characterized as poor performances and a variety of rule-breaking behavior, according to city records.
Those infractions — as detailed in Ms. Adebisi’s personnel file and other city documents — culminated in her termination in August. But Earl Murry, a man who describes himself as Ms. Adabisi’s “administrative representative,” said the female recruit, who is black, was wrongfully terminated in what has become the latest public case of the department being accused of discriminating against its members based on race and gender.
“I know they have a problem with discrimination,” Mr. Murry said about TFD. “I know they have a problem with gender.”
City spokesman Ignazio Messina on Wednesday said officials do not comment on specifics when it comes to personnel issues, but records in her file show officials over the course of many months documented a handful of concerns about her job performance ranging from the seemingly mundane — she is accused of covering her face during class — to instructors detailing in emails and interdepartmental communications concerns about her physical fitness level. One interdepartmental letter stated that she “could not complete one single push up correctly.”
“Due to your overall unacceptable performance in the academy, the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department is terminating you from the current firefighter training program, effective immediately,” states an Aug. 23 letter signed by Chief Brian Byrd, who is also black.
“This was a decision made by Chief Byrd, and the administration supported his decision,” city spokesman Ignazio Messina said. “The city is committed to establishing a diverse work force and inclusive workplace culture while working to become a high-performing organization. That commitment is evident in our recent hires and the diversity in the most recent graduation class, which was the first class under Chief Byrd.”
Mr. Murry, though, contends that Ms. Adebisi’s dismissal had more to do with her being singled out and targeted because of her race and gender, and he said there is a pattern of such behavior at TFD. As evidence of a more systemic problem, he pointed to the case of another African-American fire recruit who he said was wrongfully fired in July, 2018: Major Smith III, who is currently suing the city over his dismissal.
In a third recent case to receive publicity, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in July found that Karen Marquardt, the department’s first female assistant chief, was likely denied a promotion and later harassed because of her gender.
"What has happened to Sierra and others at the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department is unconscionable to have occurred in 2019,” Mr. Murry said.
Ms. Adebisi has also approached the state civil rights commission about her situation.
In a complaint filed Aug. 6, she alleged that she was “continuously sexually harassed and racially discriminated against by the City of Toledo and The Toledo Fire & Rescue Department by white superiors and administrators since she was hired in February, 2019.”
Ms. Adebisi told the commission that a white male trainee used the “N” word toward another trainee and was never disciplined, while she was given intentionally conflicting orders designed to make her not compliant with TFD rules and policies. Her inability to follow these conflicting directives then was used to discipline her and ultimately terminate her, according to her complaint.
One grievance detailed in the complaint was that she did not wear the right color T-shirt and also at one point wore a T-shirt with a TFD logo on it, which was against the rules, according to both the complaint and city records. Ms. Adebisi claimed in the complaint that the shirt she was wearing got wet during training, so she changed into a dry T-shirt. She had turned the dry shirt inside out so the logo wasn’t visible.
She alleged in the complaint that white male trainees had worn T-shirts with visible logos and were not punished even after being seen by white officers.
Ms. Adebisi’s personnel file also details instances when she was written up only to then have that disciplinary action revoked following union intervention.
She was repeatedly written up for not coming to work in a carpool as directed because the academy lacked parking spaces for everyone to drive separately, record show. She was also reprimanded for not showing up to work by 6:30 a.m. as ordered, though training did not officially begin until 7 a.m.
On July 29, the carpool and 6:30 a.m. start time violations were rescinded by Chief Byrd, after a grievance was filed by Toledo Firefighters Local 92.
Within a month of that action, Ms. Adebisi was removed from the training program.
She filed a second complaint with the state civil rights commission on Aug. 27 contending her removal amounted to retaliation for the first complaint she filed.
Both complaints remain pending with the state, a civil rights commission spokesman said.
First Published September 4, 2019, 10:38 p.m.
