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ACLU Miami Chapter Files Suit on Behalf of Miami-Dade Firefighters Wrongly Suspended in Aftermath of 9-11
September 22, 2003
MIAMI ? The Greater Miami Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed a federal lawsuit September 12 on behalf of three Miami-Dade firefighters who were suspended for making statements about the state of race relations in America following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
"Miami-Dade public officials played to popular prejudice and heaped scorn and ridicule on these public servants who did no more than raise questions of racial injustice amidst the talk of patriotic duty," said ACLU cooperating attorneys David Nevel and Alan H. Levine in a complaint filed against Miami-Dade County and former County Manager Steve Shiver in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
At issue is an informal conversation that took place on September 15, 2001 about displaying a large flag on a Miami-Dade County fire truck. During the conversation, firefighters James Moore, William Clark and Terry Williams commented on race relations in the United States. County officials then made public statements to the press stating that all three men refused to ride on a fire truck with an American flag and that they threatened to leave work unless the flag was removed from the truck. Shiver threatened discipline "up to and including termination." During several highly-publicized media interviews, fire department officials also said they were Muslims. They are not.
The firefighters, who have in the past exercised their First Amendment rights by advocating for the rights of African Americans, did not refuse to ride the truck or threaten to leave work. Nevertheless, in a widely-publicized action, the three men were ultimately suspended on September 22, 2001.
The ACLU contends in its lawsuit that the county violated the firefighters' free speech and due process rights under the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution by retaliating against them for making public statements about the lack of racial equality in the United States. The ACLU also charges that the county discriminated against them based on race in violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
The ACLU is seeking damages for the plaintiffs to compensate them for having been subjected to relentless hostility, threats and ridicule by their co-workers as a result of verbal attacks by former County Manager Steve Shiver and other county officials.
The lawsuit also seeks a public apology and retraction, remedial action in the workplace, and damages on behalf of all three firefighters.
