By Brian Lockhart
Staff Writer
November 21, 2006
NORWALK - Fire Chief Denis McCarthy said he will issue a public apology today for his response to a videotape, first brought to his attention more than a year ago, of a firefighter using racial slurs among a group of peers.
The tape was made public last week by a black firefighter who accused McCarthy of not dealing with racism in the Norwalk Fire Department. McCarthy, hired in April 2005, also has been criticized by black community leaders.
McCarthy said he also will announce the results of a meeting he called yesterday with some of those leaders, along with elected officials and senior fire department staff, to discuss improving racial tolerance within the department.
"We had a very forward-looking day," McCarthy said last night. "But I don't want to comment on it until I'm able to issue an apology."
The Rev. Lindsay Curtis, pastor of Grace Baptist Church and president of Norwalk's NAACP branch, was one of the black leaders who met with McCarthy. Curtis said that assessing the department's 137 members perceptions about race relations within the ranks was discussed.
Sixteen members of the department are minorities.
Last week, one of those men, Firefighter Scot Wilson, a 27-year veteran, circulated a videotape to the media showing a conversation he says was recorded in March 2005 at the Broad River fire station, where he worked.
Wilson is using the tape as evidence in a complaint against the city filed over the summer with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities alleging he has been forced to work in a racist atmosphere.
At the time of the taping, Wilson had an age discrimination complaint pending before the commission. On the videotape, when the issue arises of whether everyone named in Wilson's ageism complaint is white, one firefighter says Latinos and blacks are included, but uses two racial slurs to describe them.
The excerpt of the tape Wilson showed The Advocate last week ends about five seconds after the racist comments are made, so it is unclear whether any of the other firefighters present reprimanded the speaker.
Wilson's age discrimination complaint has since been dismissed. A commission spokesman yesterday said an investigator has not been assigned to Wilson's racism complaint.
McCarthy was hired by former Mayor Alex Knopp and began work in May 2005, taking over from Sanford Anderson, Norwalk's first black fire chief. McCarthy, who is white, previously ran Westport's fire department.
According to the racism complaint, Wilson learned of the videotape's existence in August 2005 while suspended for arriving at work a month earlier under the influence of alcohol.
Wilson, who was receiving treatment for alcohol abuse and was scheduled to return to work at the Broad River station in September 2005, alleges he asked McCarthy to transfer him to the Westport Avenue station. Wilson's complaint states that after the videotape surfaced he feared returning "to an atmosphere of racial resentment" would jeopardize his progress in treatment.
Wilson's racism complaint also states he asked McCarthy to address the racial intolerance.
Wilson alleges both requests were denied. He was transferred in July to the Van Zant Street station and faces termination for coming to work under the influence of alcohol in September.
It is unclear exactly how McCarthy responded to the videotaped racist comments and Wilson's concerns, or why he plans to deliver a public apology today.
McCarthy declined to discuss details yesterday. But after the tape's existence was made public by the media Friday, he and Mayor Richard Moccia scheduled a news conference and pledged an investigation.
At the news conference, McCarthy said he did not ignore Wilson's complaint and "immediately" transferred him out of the Broad River station. He also said he asked whether Wilson wanted to press charges against anyone on the tape but said Wilson declined.
Wilson said yesterday that he did not offer to show the tape to McCarthy or identify any of the speakers but did provide the fire chief a transcript of what was said. Wilson said he wanted to prove he was working in a hostile environment, but did not want to pursue charges and did not believe he could alter his peers' behavior. He would not explain how he learned of the tape or who made it.
Moccia, elected in November 2005, said he has confidence in McCarthy's leadership and the fire chief's apology today "will clarify things."
The mayor said he has not seen the videotape but the city "is going to tackle this head-on."
The NAACP's Curtis said he has not viewed the videotape and knows of its contents only through media accounts.
"The derogatory comments made (in the video) have been around for a long time," Curtis said. "My concern is there were people in a room who felt safe to use that kind of language (and) it's taken a full year to do something about it."
Anderson, McCarthy's predecessor and the city's first black firefighter and fire chief, said he was never made aware of any racial intolerance within the department.
A 46-year veteran, Anderson was promoted to chief in 2004 after several years as assistant chief.
He retired in April 2005 - a month after the Broad River station video was recorded - and was hired as Greenwich's first black fire chief.
Anderson, who lives in Norwalk, said he has been following the media accounts of the videotape. He indicated it is not uncommon for firefighters to joke about one another's ethnicity and said members know it is not a sign of animosity.
"That is commonplace in the fire department. It means nothing," Anderson said. "Even if he (Wilson) did say something to me, I would tell him: 'Listen, when that bell hits, you do your job and you don't worry about the racial stuff.' "
Curtis said yesterday that if fire officials do not take racist comments seriously, they will have a harder time adding diversity to the ranks.
"These kinds of things speak to a lack of sensitivity," Curtis said. "We've been actively trying to help the fire department increase its minority representation. And when things like this happen, people don't want to subject themselves to a hostile environment."
Copyright © 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.