In a lawsuit filed last week, a former West Columbia, South Carolina, firefighter claims he was fired for being white.
Michael A. Jordan, from Lexington County, South Carolina, is suing the city of West Columbia for racial discrimination, gender discrimination and retaliation.
Jordan worked for the West Columbia Fire Department for ten years, most recently as a lieutenant in 2019, according to the lawsuit.
In April 2019, a firefighter accused Jordan of making homophobic comments and harassing her, according to the lawsuit.
The allegations were then investigated and found to be false, according to the lawsuit.
Jordan told his captain, a black man, that he felt targeted as a man “having to continually fight against false accusations,” the suit said.
In May 2019, West Columbia firefighters were preparing food when one of the white firefighters asked a white woman about watermelons.
“How do you know when the watermelons are ready to be picked?” asked the fireman, according to the action.
Another fireman reportedly said it was a good thing he didn’t ask the captain, who was black, that question because it could have been misunderstood, according to the lawsuit. Jordan says he did not hear the comment.
Several other firefighters started laughing, the lawsuit said.
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Jordan then started talking about how he used to plant watermelon with his grandfather, according to the lawsuit.
Three days later, the deputy chief and the captain began to investigate the incident and to ask individual firefighters what was said.
Then, five days later, Jordan was asked to resign or be fired immediately.
According to the form he was given, he was forced to resign because he did not act after the alleged comment about the watermelon was made, the suit says.
Later, Jordan asked the HR representative to provide more information about his dismissal, which he said was ultimately due to the “watermelon incident,” according to the lawsuit.
Jordan says that other employees who were not white and / or men did not report the “watermelon incident” and received less punishment.
Jordan “believes he was discriminated against because of his race and gender and ultimately retaliated for reporting this treatment,” the suit said.
The lawsuit alleges that he was discriminated against because of his race and gender, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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The city of West Columbia ended up dismissing Jordan from his position “because he is white” and assumed that “he was complicit in the perpetuation of racist stereotypes by another white official, the suit said.
Columbia attorney Julius W. Babb is representing Jordan in the lawsuit.
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