Steve Vockrodt
堪萨斯城明星
（MCT）
Apr. 22—A federal jury found that the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, discriminated against a Black firefighter and then retaliated against him when it fired him for raising complaints.
10人陪审团在审议大约八小时之后，在星期四返回了前堪萨斯城堪萨斯州的前堪萨斯城·堪萨斯州的前堪萨斯城员工Jyan Harris。陪审团授予哈里斯2,432,000美元，这一金额代表其歧视和报复索赔的回报，未来薪酬和补偿赔偿金额。
“Hopefully now it shows them that you can’t do people like that,” Harris said after the verdict was read. “You have to do your due diligence before you take somebody’s livelihood away, especially somebody who’s giving you their livelihood.”
哈里斯在2018年提出了他的诉讼之后，判决诉讼超过了三年的诉讼。当他在夏季青年营地为其公园和娱乐部门提交时表时，统一的政府向哈里斯举行了双重浸渍。计划为消防部门工作。
But Harris’ lawyers — Katherine Myers and Sarah Liesen — succeeded in convincing the jury that the double-dipping investigation was a pretext for firing their client after he raised complaints about racial discrimination he faced while working in the KCKFD.
“Discrimination and retaliation are insidious. Usually it’s not a, quote unquote, smoking gun,” Myers said. “Usually it’s a combination of circumstances and things.”
持续九天并于周二下午去陪审团的审判产生了几个证人，他在KCKFD中作证了种族问题的实例。
Witnesses testified and evidence appeared to support that Black firefighters were frequently moved into one fire station, that they were often passed over for promotions and were not actively recruited to work for a predominantly white fire department serving a racially diverse city.
前市长马克荷兰作证说，前Kckfd首席约翰保罗琼斯曾对他讨论了如何难以雇用黑人消防员，因为琼斯认为黑人害怕火灾。琼斯于2018年离开该部门，否认了言论。一个统一的政府文件反映了一个黑色消防队员，纪律是为了在指挥链中征收关于消防局中绞索的指挥之外的投诉。
在一份声明中，统一的政府承认审判“在我们的消防部门文化中阐述了其他潜在的潜在潜在的问题，这对于解决问题。”
虽然我们支持包容性消防部门，但这种情况突出了我们有更多工作的人员之间的担忧，“统一政府管理员在书面陈述中，Doug Bach说。“我们的消防员正处于公共安全的前线，在2021年，在工作中没有人应该感到不受欢迎或冤枉。因此，我们正在采取迅速和决定性的行动，以确保没有人，无论他们的种族，种族，性别，性取向还是宗教，在我们的工作场所都感觉虐待或弱势群体。“
During his closing argument, Ryan Denk, attorney representing the Unified Government, pressed jurors to consider whether those stories of racial issues supported Harris’ claims of race discrimination.
“这就是原告承担证据负担的地方，”德克说。“我认为他们已经堕落了。”
陪审团似乎有不相同。
“判决本身就讲话，”据称陪审员之一迈克特罗尔斯特说，他准备离开法院大楼。
该试验充满了互动的证词。有可能或可能没有发生的会议。可能存在或可能不存在的记录。可能或可能没有出现的陈述。
The case likely hinged on who the jury ultimately trusted was telling the truth about what transpired with Harris during his last year of working as a firefighter.
'最多包括终止'
Harris started working as a firefighter in 2004, after a stint working with the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office, which was preceded by military service. Harris testified that he joined the fire department as a continuation of his service to a community in which he had lived all his life.
Harris’ lawsuit said that he was injured on the job in 2013 and forced to use sick and vacation leave time while recovering, while white firefighters injured at work got to use injury time.
哈里斯说，他于2015年秋天遇到了巴赫，以及有影响力的牧师杰米银行。根据哈里斯的说法，他讨论了KCKFD的种族歧视。
While Bach acknowledged the meeting and said that sick time was among the issues that were talked about, he testified this week that he didn’t recall race coming up in the conversation. In earlier testimony from a 2019 deposition, Bach said it was “possible” that race was discussed.
在2015年的同一时间，堪萨斯州劳工部正在调查统一的政府公园和娱乐系是否将夏季青年计划的工人被错误分类为独立承包商，当时应该是员工。
哈里斯是其中一个员工。
统一政府人力资源总监雷尼拉姆利斯作证，她要求从公园部门和KCKFD记录。比较这两者时，Ramirez得出结论，哈里斯于2015年夏天的五天在消防部门工作，同时还声称在公园部门同时工作。
2016年5月，她推荐哈里斯被纪律统治“达到，包括终止”。
哈里斯于2016年6月9日召集人力资源，抱怨他面临的骚扰。第二天安排了与人力资源的会面，但随后被人力资源取消。
哈里斯然后在当时的统一政府市长和巴赫寻求与荷兰的会议。
哈里斯说，2016年6月30日与巴赫有会面，讨论了他对种族歧视的投诉。巴赫作证说他没有记得会议。
But Harris did meet with Holland on July 7, 2016, where he complained about race discrimination.
第二天，Bach将一封电子邮件写给Ramriez，除其他外，哈里斯抱怨种族歧视。
一周后，哈里斯被召集到市政厅的会议与人力资源。哈里斯作证说，他认为会议是通过他的消防部长骚扰他对他的抱怨。
会议由助理统一政府管理员Joe Connor，Ramirez，Harris和两位副火酋长，John Peterson和John Zimbelman，以及消防部门的工会代表鲍勃埃。
根据Connor对会议的说法，哈里斯在公园和消防部门的时间表中面对的差异面临着差异。Connor的备忘录表示哈里斯并没有争论指控。
但哈里斯将会议描绘成一个伏击，并说他试图解释他在有关日子里交易了他的转变。
Connor后来将备忘录写给琼斯，当时的火灾队长，为他提供暂停哈里斯的建议，该建议于2016年9月28日发生。
经过2018, he was fired after an arbitrator upheld his suspension and his grievances were exhausted. The jury was not told about the arbitrator’s decision because U.S. District Court Judge Julie Robinson determined that the arbitrator did not review much of the testimony and evidence that was produced for the trial.
转移交易很常见
哈里斯说，像大多数消防员一样，他交易了转变。从哈里斯的角度来看，这是解释了统一的政府的记录，这些记录将在2015年显示他在两个地方。
统一的政府的调查得出结论，哈里斯在2015年的五天内为消防部门工作了转变。每日名单和日志似乎表明他是第10号消防局。
哈里斯的律师表示，这些记录是不可靠的。相反，哈里斯已经将这些转移到其他消防员，所以他可以为夏令营工作八到九个小时，然后返回其余24小时轮班的剩余时间。
Time trading is a common and legal practice in fire departments, where the unusual nature of their shifts — often 24 hours on duty, followed by 48 hours off duty — necessitate some flexibility in moving shifts around. An unusual aspect of shift trading in KCKFD is the person who is having a colleague cover their shift is still paid as though they worked that shift, even though someone else did it. There may be an expectation that the trade is reciprocated, but it’s not required.
但哈里斯的律师制作了证人证明时间交易记录的证人被KCKFD保持不然。这两个消防员制造贸易人士必须签署纸张单，然后必须由船长，营队长和分部总公司签署，共有五个签名。
在哈里斯的情况下，没有时间交易单据存在，显示他在2015年夏天的五天内交易地转移。
但哈里斯以及其他几个见证人报告了抛弃时间辞刑的常见做法，特别是对于持续几个小时的交易。
一位消防员说他完全避免了交易时间，称kckfd的过程是“不在上升”。
纸张滑倒，用于跟踪交易的消防部门后来被电子系统取代。
消防员也有年度出勤日历，但他们在哈里斯调查中没有审查。
“如果你正在调查，你会想要别人看他们吗？”迈尔斯问道。
“I suppose,” he replied.
“我应该是船长或更好”
Testimony by Harris’ witnesses reflected a fire department where Black employees are treated different and where family connections to top Unified Government personnel and elected officials have insulated KCKFD from accountability.
一位黑色的长期消防员，在他回忆起在2011年和2017年通过所需测试后，他回忆起他回忆起他的推动到2017年和2017年的驾驶员晋升到司机的晋升时，他们就会被击败。
Allen did finally get his promotion last year.
“And now that I’m in that position, all these guys are now telling me I should have been a driver years ago and I shouldn’t be in this position as a driver” now, Allen said. “I should be a captain or better.”
Lee Jamahl Washington, another Black firefighter, testified about how he was called to headquarters and told to delete a Facebook post in which he referenced his opinion about police brutality against Black men.
Several firefighters discussed how Fire Station No. 10, a fire station near Rosedale, was where Black firefighters were often sent.
荷兰,前市长,证实KCKFD, particularly through its union, influences city politics, where both elected and top city officials often have family who work for the fire department. Holland pointed out the husband of Renee Ramirez, the human resources director, works for KCKFD.
“The fire department gets a pass because of the legacy this fire department has in Kansas City, Kansas,” Holland said.
Bach, in a statement, said the Unified Government had “zero tolerance” for the claims raised in the trial.
“我们非常关注的问题bias and mistreatment our Black firefighters raised in testimony,” he said, “and will be working to address it immediately.”
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（c）2021堪萨斯城明星（堪萨斯城，Mo.）
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