Kansas City will pay $850,000 to retired battalion chief Daniel McGrath to settle a lawsuit alleging he was denied a promotion due to his race and gender. McGrath, who retired in January, claimed that former Fire Chief Donna Lake passed him over for a deputy chief’s position in favor of a Black fire captain he argued was less qualified.
The lawsuit stated that Lake, the department’s first female fire chief, made her intentions clear when she allegedly told a subordinate, “The days of the Fire Department being run by older white men are over.” This statement, McGrath claimed, reflected discriminatory practices in the department’s promotion process.
Lake’s tenure as fire chief came amid heightened scrutiny over the department’s employment practices. A series of investigative articles by The Kansas City Star revealed decades of discrimination against women and Black firefighters within the Kansas City Fire Department. Following these revelations, the U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into the department.
A year before the deputy chief position became available, Lake and city leaders pledged to address long-standing issues of discrimination in hiring and promotions. Despite these reforms, McGrath’s case was not the only legal challenge. In August, the city settled two similar lawsuits from other white battalion chiefs who also claimed they were passed over for the same position. Combined, these settlements totaled $3.65 million in the past year, significantly exceeding the $2.5 million paid out in discrimination-related judgments over the previous two decades.
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The city recently agreed to a new five-year labor contract with the firefighters union, Local 42, that will limit future discrimination lawsuits. Under the agreement, employees hired after May 2024 must resolve most discrimination claims through arbitration, a process often seen as favoring employers. However, this policy will not apply to battalion chiefs, who are part of a separate union and do not have the same restrictions.
The settlement highlights ongoing tensions within the Kansas City Fire Department and raises questions about the balance between addressing past discrimination and ensuring fairness in hiring practices moving forward.
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