'I'm tired of it': Baltimore firefighter complains of campaign of racism

A Baltimore firefighter is suing his department, alleging an extensive campaign of racially-motivated harassment and retaliation, reported WBAL on Wednesday.

"Lt. Mitchell Waters, an emergency medical technician and firefighter, has been with the Baltimore City Fire Department for 12 years," reported Barry Simms. "His federal lawsuit claims race and color discrimination, a hostile work environment, retaliation and civil rights and Maryland Fair Employment Practices violations," WBAL reported.

"'I'm just tired of it. I want change. I want the fire department to change,' Waters said. 'I've been fighting offenses (that), clearly, I didn't violate, and it's bad. It's real bad for us right now.'"

According to the lawsuit, the problems began during a dispute with a white woman who works for the Baltimore County Fire Department, during a mutual aid call in 2021, which resulted in the woman's husband, a city fire department worker, filing a complaint against Waters.

"Since then, the lawsuit alleges: 'Plaintiff has consistently been subjected to baseless investigations, fictitious charges and unwarranted disciplinary actions,'" said the report. "Complaints include arriving at work late after leaving one engine and reporting for duty at another fire station as assigned. His attorneys, Dionna Marie Lewis and Brett Harshbarger, said Waters pushed back, and the complaints have been determined unfounded."

This comes amid a series of reports on a culture of racism at fire departments around the country.

In February 2022, a hot mic caught volunteer firefighters in Delaware County, Pennsylvania mocking and slurring an 8-year-old Black girl who was fatally shot by police. That entire unit was subsequently dissolved later that year.