A New Jersey firefighter repeatedly encountered racism and retaliation for reporting bias incidents against him as a Black man, according to a lawsuit filed late last month.
The lawsuit, filed in Mercer County Superior Court, alleges Michael Warren was subjected to discrimination while employed by the Hamilton Township Fire Department between 2022 and 2023.
The lawsuit comes about four years after state fire department regulators approved five independent volunteer companies in the township unifying, becoming one firefighting force overseen by the municipality.
The alleged mistreatment of Warren began in 2022, and continued at multiple points throughout the next year. The lawsuit alleges Warren was subjected to emotional and financial harm, with his legal team asking the court to award compensatory and punitive damages.
A township spokesperson, in an email to NJ Advance Media, said both the municipality and fire division deny the allegations, adding that both have no further comment because of pending litigation.
The lawsuit names the township, Chief Christopher Tozzi and Ray Krajcsovics, a firefighter, as defendants. A request for comment sent by NJ Advance Media to Tozzi to his municipal email address was not immediately returned.
The case was filed by attorney Christopher Keating, who, according to his firm’s website, specializes in workplace lawsuits.
Warren was first subjected to a racist remark at the firehouse in 2022. While there, the lawsuit claims either a volunteer firefighter or retired member said, “Oh, we have a color boy here,” a comment later reported to the township and found to be “substantiated,” the lawsuit states.
How Warren was treated at work continued changing in 2023, when he took a leave of absence and upon returning was required by the township to undergo a “fit for duty exam,” which included a “baseless and racist inquiry into whether he had any pending restraining orders or criminal charges,” the lawsuit states.
The purportedly groundless mandate led to an unsuccessful union challenge of the exam made on Warren’s behalf, the complaint says.
Township firefighters are represented by the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association. They’re covered by two unions, Locals 84 and 284, according to the labor organization’s website. A request by NJ Advance Media for comment from both was not immediately returned.
Township officials, upon being informed of the union grievance, told Warren the municipality has authority by law to enforce the exam if it believes an employee’s medical condition could affect their job performance or safety, the lawsuit states.
Despite protesting the township’s demand, Warren cleared his exam, subsequently filing a written complaint alleging to be targeted for his race in a department employing only three Black firefighters, the lawsuit states. He continued facing retaliation for contesting the test, including from Krajcsovics, who allegedly “verbally assaulted” Warren in a face-to-face confrontation, according to the complaint.
Evidence used to support Warren’s complaint includes social media posts from Tozzi’s accounts, the lawsuit says. Those include a pair of posts reposted on Tozzi’s page on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that made statements including “Happy George Floyd Day, everyone” and “Race is a business don’t you ever forget that.”
Warren was never offered a paid leave option while his complaint was being investigated, the lawsuit says. He was placed on temporary assignment, the complaint states, until last December. Fearing continuing harassment at work, he requested a leave of absence through that assignment period.
He has since return to full duty, Keating told NJ Advance Media.
The legal team, according to the lawsuit, also alleges a white female firefighter was granted a paid leave of absence after reporting to have faced sex-based discrimination within the department.
Warren began his employment with the department in 2019, one year before the state Department of Community Affairs’ Local Finance Board unanimously approved the township’s effort to make a single firefighting department overseen by the local government.
Until then, the township’s force was made up of nine independent, tax-levying fire districts. The approval ended a five-year strive by the township to unite the departments.
At the time the state cleared the proposal, the department’s annual budget was to be set at around $28 million yearly.
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Eric Conklin may be reached at econklin@njadvancemedia.com.
