NYC firefighters who participated in racist float lose jobs

The Associated Press

10.27.98

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NEW YORK — Two city firefighters who wore blackface makeup on a Labor Day parade float have been fired for violating their oaths of office and bringing shame to the fire department.

Firefighters Robert Steiner and Jonathan Walters were fired yesterday morning by Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, who accepted an administrative judge's recommendation.

In a three-page decision, Von Essen said the firefighters' off-duty actions deserved the most severe penalty. The men, both 29, had returned to their jobs Oct. 19 after 30-day suspensions.

"I significantly noted the egregious nature of the actions, their unwillingness to accept responsibility for their actions," Von Essen wrote. "Such conduct on the part of firefighters and peace officers cannot and must not be condoned by the department."

Von Essen did not comment on Chief Administrative Law Judge Rosemarie Maldonado's suggestion that a more appropriate punishment would be a three-month suspension without pay.

In her 30-page recommendation issued Oct. 16, the judge said she had no option but to recommend dismissal because her other two choices under the law — reprimand or 10 days' loss of pay — were too lenient.

Steiner's attorney called Von Essen's decision a "knee-jerk reaction to the mayor's order to fire these firefighters." Mayor Rudolph Giuliani had publicly said that the firefighters and a police officer also on the float deserved termination and that the only way he would reinstate them was if the U.S. Supreme Court ordered him to.

Von Essen "had two choices," said attorney Marvyn Kornberg, "either fire the firefighters or get fired himself."

Von Essen had told the firefighters' attorneys that if it were up to him, he would not fire them, the lawyer added.

Walters' attorney, Michael Block, said he found it curious that Von Essen did not mention the judge's suggestion of a 90-day suspension.

"This just illustrates a predetermined outcome," he said.

Earlier this month, Police Commissioner Howard Safir fired Officer Joseph Locurto, who also was on the float in Broad Channel, Queens. A police department judge had recommended that the officer be fired.

In their two-day trial earlier this month, the firefighters said they meant to poke fun at their predominantly white community's racist views with the Black to the Future 2098 float. They said they used stereotypes, such as the blackface and Afro wigs, because that's the way community residents perceive blacks.

Walters added that he depicted the dragging death of a black man in Texas earlier this year after he was goaded by a man and a woman.

While he was dragged by the float for about five to 10 seconds, Walters said, he yelled: "This is what happened to our brother in Texas. We should not allow this here."

All three fired men allege in federal lawsuits that their First Amendment rights were violated.

Update

Giuliani defends role in firing of NYC workers who paraded in blackface
Former mayor testifies that his statement that firefighters, cop would be dismissed wasn't an order but a prediction that could have been ignored by their bosses.  01.09.03