International Association of Fire Fighters Files Amended Complaint, Adds Plaintiff in Case Against City of Montgomery, City Officials and Fire Department

2008-09-29 23:46:02 -

www.iaff.org - A fire fighter has been added as a plaintiff to the lawsuit filed against the city of Montgomery, Alabama, Mayor Bobby Bright and other city and fire department officials, to obtain relief from unlawful retaliatory actions.

Toney D. Stephens was added as a co-plaintiff in an Amended Complaint filed September 25 with the Federal District Court in

Montgomery as part of a federal court suit filed September 5 on behalf of Ronnie Bozeman Jr., president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1444, against the city of Montgomery, Alabama, Mayor Bright and other city and fire department officials.

Toney Stephens has been added as a plaintiff in that suit because of retaliatory actions taken against him after he joined International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1444 in August 2007.

Stephens has been a target of defendants named in the suit because he joined the fire fighters' association and resisted coercion by fire department officials to make a cash contribution to the Public Safety Insurance Fund. Stephens then was transferred and told that he should have contributed to the fund. Ultimately, Stephens was suspended without pay for 29 days.

Stephens challenged the suspension. When Stephens met with Montgomery Fire Chief Miford Jordan during the grievance procedure, Jordan indicated that Stephens and other members of Local 1444 would be better off if they got out of the labor association. Jordan also has told African-American fire fighters in the fire department that they should drop out of the fire fighters' association because their membership in it would hurt their careers in the department, according to the Amended Complaint. Chief Jordan approved the 29-day suspension - without pay - for Stephens on November 19, 2007, and Mayor Bright approved the suspension on January 16, 2008.

Bozeman, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1444, represented Stephens during an appeals hearing on January 9, 2008, and Stephens testified that he was retaliated against because of his membership in the labor association.

Two days after that hearing, Bozeman was abruptly transferred against his will from the fire suppression division to the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) training division. Bozeman, a 17-year veteran, had been in fire suppression for about 10 years and had not practiced as a paramedic during that time period.

The transfer of plaintiff Bozeman to non-shift work in the EMS training division caused Bozeman substantial financial loss.

Subsequently, Bozeman was transferred to a desk job so he would be isolated from fellow fire fighters. The transfer occurred at a time when his services as a trained and experienced captain could be used to fill vacancies in frontline captain's positions to better protect Montgomery citizens in fire and rescue emergencies.

Bozeman has appealed his transfer, but Mayor Bright has taken no action in response to the appeal.

"The IAFF will not remain idle when its local affiliate leaders and members are harassed and targeted with illegal retaliation for exercising their protected rights. We are committed to supporting Ronnie Bozeman and Toney Stephens and getting them the justice they deserve," IAFF General President Harold A. Schaitberger said.

The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, D.C., represents more than 290,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics who protect 85 percent of the nation's population. More information is available at www.iaff.org

International Association of Fire Fighters
Tom Woodley, 202-833-8855