Jury rules in favor of Black firefighter's racial discrimination case against City of Portland
Jason Wilson spent more than 17 years serving his community before filing a complaint that accused the City of Portland of discriminating against him 'based on his race, his opposition to unlawful discrimination, and his reports of unlawful conduct.'
Neighbors, PBOT fed up with NW 13th outdoor plaza
A jury ruled Monday that Wilson did face discrimination from the bureau, suggesting that a judge grant him $275,000 in non-economic damages.
Wilson and his attorney , alleging he was ignored by supervisors when he brought up concerns of unlawful activity as recently as October 2023.
'For years, Company Fire Inspection Program (CFIP) employees have systematically falsified thousands of inspection reports,' the lawsuit read. 'In some cases, employees have filed inspection reports without having set foot inside the premises they claimed to have inspected.'
According to the lawsuit, fire investigators called Wilson and asked to accompany him 'into a private premises under the guise of performing a fire inspection so they could get the 'lay of the land' and look for stolen cars' in June 2023. Wilson says he reported the request to his supervisors, because he was concerned doing so would be illegal.
The suit outlined years of racial discrimination and derogatory comments made by supervisors and colleagues.
In an instance from 2008, the suit alleged that now-retired Cpt. Lonnie Fuller had spoken about Wilson's daughter in derogatory ways and made other racist comments on a daily basis, such as calling any black person in a baseball cap a 'gang member.'
Man arrested after hatchet attack near Portland State campus
On one occasion, Wilson claimed Fuller asked, 'Where's the most dangerous place for a black baby?' and finished with the punchline, 'In its mother's belly.'
But when Wilson brought up the alleged racism to a fire marshal in October 2023, he was removed from the inspection testing maintenance team four days later. Instead, he was told at the time the decision had been made to 'avoid favoritism.'
Wilson had also claimed that the city's hiring process for a 2023 Fire Inspector Specialist position had been a case of racial discrimination. However, the jury ruled that the process had resulted in materially adverse treatment, but did not find that the treatment was due to his race.
The Portland Fire Bureau declined an opportunity for comment. KOIN 6 News has also reached out to the City of Portland. This story will be updated if we hear back.
Stay with KOIN 6 News for this developing story.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
11 minutes ago
- Axios
Scoop: Trump's principal deputy press secretary heads to K Street
Harrison Fields, the Trump White House 's principal deputy press secretary, is leaving to join the Republican lobbying and public affairs firm CGCN, Axios has learned. Why it matters: Fields, a veteran of the first Trump White House, is one of the first major departures in Trump's second term and one of the most senior Black men on the president's team. What they're saying: "We are grateful for his service and wish him all the best in his next chapter," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "He has been a trusted and steady presence throughout both Trump administrations, and his loyalty, commitment and leadership have made a lasting impact." Fields told Axios that "it has been a great honor and blessing to play a small part in President Trump's triumphant return to the White House and the consequential success of the White House Press Office," and that he'll continue "to support the MAGA movement." Between the lines: Fields is a Leavitt ally; they became close as assistant press secretaries in Trump's first term.
.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
Miami Herald
11 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
‘Rewrite history': Miami historians alarmed over review of Smithsonian exhibits
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., has at least 300 artifacts from Florida housed in the museum. There's the boxing head gear worn by Muhammad Ali at the 5th Street Gym in Miami Beach, where it is believed he made his transformation from Cassius Clay. There's also a jacket from the Florida A&M University marching band, known as the Marching 100, a Bahamas Junkanoo Revue costume, and countless photos of Black musicians who've performed in Miami. There's also a dress worn by Marie Monroe, who lived in Rosewood, Fla., during the 1923 massacre, a scathing reminder of a racially motivated attack that led to the destruction of a Black town in Levy County. There is a stereograph showing a Black man and boy with a mule and a cart outside the Putnam Hotel in Palatka, Fla., with an inscription on the back that reads: '15th Amendment, or the Darkey's Millennium, 40 Acres and a Mule,' mocking the never-fulfilled promise of the post-Civil War reparation of 40 acres and a mule for the formerly enslaved. Now as President Donald Trump is preparing an overhaul of the capital's Smithsonian museums, those two mementos of Florida's racist past might find themselves in storage. Trump took to social media to bemoan how the nation's museums present such a dark look at history and don't reflect a more cheerful view of the United States. 'The museums throughout Washington, but all over the country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of 'WOKE,'' Trump wrote on his Truth Social account. The Smithsonian, he wrote, is 'out of control where everything discussed is how horrible our country is, how bad slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been – nothing about success, nothing about Brightness, nothing about the Future.' The Museum of African American History and Culture, which opened in 2016, is one of eight undergoing an internal review by the Trump Administration, as part of the America 250 campaign, a purported nonpartisan effort to commemorate the country's 250th anniversary. Within 120 days of the review, which was announced last week, museums are expected to 'begin implementing content corrections where necessary, replacing divisive or ideologically driven language with unifying, historically accurate, and constructive descriptions across placards, wall didactics, digital displays, and other public-facing materials.' Trump officials sent a letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch detailing the timeline of the review. 'This review is a constructive and collaborative effort — one rooted in respect for the Smithsonian's vital mission and its extraordinary contributions,' read the letter. 'Our goal is not to interfere with the day-to-day operations of curators or staff, but rather to support a broader vision of excellence that highlights historically accurate, uplifting, and inclusive portrayals of America's heritage.' Congressman Carlos Gimenez (R-Miami) sits on the board of the Smithsonian, but did not respond to a request for comment about what the future of the museums could look like after the review, which is reportedly expected to be delivered in 2026. The museum's lower floors focus on Black history spanning the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the end of slavery, and the Civil Rights Movement, while upper floors focus on historic and cultural accomplishments from Black Americans, including exhibits dedicated to entertainment and sports. In his Truth Social post Trump said he has instructed his attorneys to go through the museums and 'start the exact same process that has been done with colleges and universities.' Colleges and universities have come under scrutiny by the Trump administration for what they considered-race based admissions, 'woke' curricula, the handling of student protests, and any programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. But removing materials that illustrate Black history come with risks, historians and preservationists have told Herald. 'The materials at the Smithsonian are invaluable because they tell the story of the building of our nation,' Dorothy Jenkins Fields, founder of the Black Archives in Miami, told the Miami Herald. 'It's important that the children see and understand the resilience and the value of what the people have brought and what we've maintained,' Fields said, adding it's beyond her imagination that they would remove artifacts that show the breadth of Black history. 'They are crucial to the soul of our nation.' Local preservationist Emmanuel George echoed those sentiments, saying for future generations finding truth will be even more subjective. 'It's come to the point where even if people have empirical evidence of a particular matter, that may not matter anymore in the future,' he said. George said he's worried about how data will be presented and the truth will be told, adding attempts to erase Black history ultimately affects American history and how it is portrayed. 'You're erasing a huge part of American history for the foreseeable future, and now everyone's history is going to be skewed, not just Black history, everyone's history because we're all part of this together,' he said. But George is hopeful museums can work in conjunction with each other and preserve any artifacts that may be removed. Historian and former Florida International University professor Marvin Dunn said he was aghast by Trump's comments and said this should 'fire up' Black people in America. 'It's an attempt to rewrite history in a way that denies our country in terms of the pain suffered by so many people, not just black people, in making this country great…What is so frightening about talking about pain, which is a part of this country's growth. We didn't grow without pain,' Dunn said. Dunn, who has spent the last two days at his property in Rosewood, said he'd considered donating artifacts from his Dunn Collection at Florida International University to the Smithsonian's Black history museum, but given Trump's comments and the recent orders, he's instead keeping them at the university. 'That's one impact we're going to start seeing. We're going to start holding our history,' he said. Dunn noted that Florida has been a litmus test for what we're seeing nationally, including how Black history is taught in public schools and colleges in the state. The state's Stop W.O.K.E. act, passed in 2022, prevents educators from teaching history in a way that could cause students to feel 'discomfort' over historic actions because of their race or gender. This is one of the reasons Dunn, 85, continues to teach Black history at his pop-up Black history learning tree at FIU. Dunn said refusing to address the nation's history could have ramifications for generations to come. 'If you can't look back and know what happened in reality, you can shape any kind of future,' he said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump calls on Federal Reserve official to resign after official accuses her of mortgage fraud
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook to resign after a member of his administration accused Cook of committing mortgage fraud, the latest example of the Trump administration's efforts to gain control over the central bank. Bill Pulte, director of the agency that oversees mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, urged the Justice Department to investigate Cook, who was appointed to the Fed's governing board by former president Joe Biden in 2022. She was reappointed the following year to a term that lasts until 2038, the longest remaining term among the seven governors. Pulte, in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, alleged that Cook claimed two homes as her principal residences in 2021 to fraudulently obtain better mortgage lending terms. On June 18 of that year she purchased a home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and then two weeks later bought a condo in Atlanta, Georgia, the letter said. Pulte also charged that Cook has listed her condo in Atlanta, Georgia, for rent. Mortgages for homes used as principal residences typically carry lower interest rates than properties that are purchased to rent, the letter said. The Federal Reserve declined to comment on the accusation. A Justice Department spokesperson also declined to comment. The allegation represents another front in the Trump administration's attack on the Fed, which has yet to cut its key interest rate as Trump has demanded. If Cook were to step down, then the White House could nominate a replacement. And Trump has said he would only appoint people who would support lower rates. The more members of the Fed's governing board that Trump can appoint, the more control he will be able to assert over the Fed, which has long been considered independent from day-to-day politics. Trump will be able to replace Chair Jerome Powell in May 2026, when Powell's term expires. Yet 12 members of the Fed's interest-rate setting committee have a vote on whether to raise or lower interest rates, so even replacing the Chair doesn't guarantee that Fed policy will shift the way Trump wants. Yet appointing more board members would give Trump more power over the institution. All seven members of the Fed's governing board are able to vote on rate decisions. The other five voters include the president of the Fed's New York branch and a rotating group of four of the presidents of the Fed's other 11 regional branches. Trump appointed two members of the Fed's board in his first term, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. Both dissented July 30 from the central bank's decision to keep its rate unchanged, in favor of a rate cut. Another Fed governor, Adriana Kugler, stepped down unexpectedly Aug. 1, and Trump has appointed one of his economic advisers, Stephen Miran, to fill out the remainder of her term until January. If Trump is able to replace Cook, the first Black woman to serve on the Fed's board, as well as Kugler, that would give him a clear majority on the board of governors. If Powell leaves the board when his term as chair ends next May, then Trump will be able to fill a fifth spot. However, Powell could stay on the board until early 2028 after finishing his term as chair. The presidents of the regional Federal Reserve banks are selected by the boards of directors of those banks, but are subject to the approval of the Fed's board of governors. The terms of all 12 of the regional Fed presidents end next February. Trump has for months demanded that the Federal Reserve reduce the short-term interest rate it controls, which currently stands at about 4.3%. He has also repeatedly insulted Powell, who has said that the Fed would like to see more evidence of how the economy evolves in response to Trump's sweeping tariffs before making any moves. Powell has also said the duties threaten to raise inflation and slow growth. Trump says that a lower rate would reduce the government's borrowing costs on $37 trillion in debt and boost the housing market by reducing mortgage rates. Yet mortgage borrowing costs do not always follow the Fed's rate decisions. The Trump administration has made similar claims of mortgage fraud against Democrats that Trump has attacked, including California Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
