Firefighter Sues Over Suspension For Racial Slur

By KIM MARTINEAU
Courant Staff Writer

April 7 2006

NEW HAVEN -- A New Haven firefighter suspended for six months after using a racial slur on the job says she was singled out and punished more harshly than other firefighters she alleges have made racially charged remarks in the past.

Carole LaCroix, 33, a white firefighter who lives in East Haven, filed a lawsuit in federal court last week claiming the city violated her right to equal protection under the law.

While introducing the United Negro College Fund during a city-sponsored charity drive in 2003, she called the organization the United "Nigger" College Fund, according to legal documents. She used the phrase a second time after someone in the audience asked her to repeat what she had just said.

New Haven's board of fire commissioners suspended LaCroix for six months without pay and demoted her to a probationary firefighter for an extra six months. The NAACP applauded the action, saying it sent a strong message that racial bias would not be tolerated.

At the time, LaCroix tearfully apologized for the incident and blamed it on learning disabilities and anxiety over speaking to a crowd. She appealed the city's disciplinary action to the state Department of Labor's mediation and arbitration panel. Last year, the panel overturned the discipline, reinstating LaCroix to her $56,000-a-year job. The panel found that LaCroix did not use the word to insult anyone or be vicious. Rather, her dyslexia, anxiety over public speaking and a stuttering problem had caused her to misspeak, it found. The ruling paved the way for LaCroix's lawsuit.

"She made an innocent mistake and the city of New Haven crucified her for political reasons," said her lawyer, Norm Pattis. "I'm happy to report she has risen from the dead and is looking forward to much better days in the department."

Connecticut's NAACP president, Scot X. Esdaile, who lives in New Haven, expressed disbelief that LaCroix was suing the city. "This is totally absurd," he said. "People that work in city hall or throughout the city should not have to hear this type of discriminatory language. We don't tolerate this type of behavior."

LaCroix's comment struck a nerve in a fire department still burdened by a history of race problems. Black firefighters have accused the department's top brass of passing them over for promotions and have filed several anti-discrimination lawsuits against the city over the years. More than half of the city's 319 firefighters are white; 27 percent are black and 16 percent are Latino.

In its decision, the state arbitration board said if the city had done a proper investigation, the incident would not have become a media "cause celebre."

"While the city may have serious racial problems in its fire department, for the city to penalize [LaCroix] for her actions that are found to be non-voluntary, non-intentional and without malice or hatred, is improper," the three-man panel wrote.

The lawsuit accuses the city of feeding news of LaCroix's "mispronunciation" to the media and portraying her as a racist.

New Haven's corporation counsel, Thomas Ude Jr., said the city had an obligation to take action against LaCroix for her offensive, inappropriate comment. "It's our position the board of fire commissioners acted in good faith," he said.

At the time of the incident, LaCroix had been assigned to coordinate a United Way campaign and escort charity representatives to city firehouses. On Oct. 14, 2003, LaCroix was asked to introduce the United Negro College Fund because its representative had not shown up to make a presentation.