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The city of Portland is facing another lawsuit from a Black employee claiming Portland Fire & Rescue discriminated against him.
Eric Heard, a fire inspector who worked at Portland Fire & Rescue for 19 years (it’s unclear if he is still actively employed), is seeking more than $3 million in economic and emotional damages in a lawsuit filed in 2024 against the city, alleging his managers at the fire bureau discriminated against him during training and internal promotions because of his race. The complaint alleges that racist conduct permeates the organization.
“Portland Fire’s culture is dominated by racist, protectionist individuals in positions of power within the organization acting in concert, often explicitly, to limit the involvement, promotion, and power of minorities in Portland Fire’s operations,” wrote Heard’s attorneys, Mary Talamantez and David Shannon of the McKean Smith law firm, in the initial complaint.
The lawsuit has not been previously reported.
The most recent development is a filing by the city last month in which it denied the claims, writing that the fire bureau’s actions “were not based on improper motive or taken for any improper purpose.”
This isn’t the first time Portland Fire & Rescue has responded to such allegations. In May, a jury ruled that the fire bureau was responsible for racial discrimination and retaliation against another Black employee, Jason Wilson, after the city sought to dismiss the case. Wilson was awarded $275,000 in damages.
According to Heard’s lawsuit, supervisors at Portland Fire & Rescue allegedly broke their own HR rules and Oregon state law in various incidents dating back to 2019.
Grievances in the suit include intentionally providing outdated training materials to employees of color while furnishing white employees with current information and denying Heard promotions because he reported alleged misconduct.
“[Heard] endured ongoing dehumanization, retaliation, career stultification and harassment at work in general and when he complained or opposed the unlawful employment actions he experienced while employed at Portland Fire,” his attorneys wrote.
In response, the city’s attorneys, Andrew Schpak and Sean Ray of the Barran Liebman law firm, wrote that the city had “valid, good faith, lawful, objectively reasonable, and nondiscriminatory grounds for all actions taken.”
The City Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment, though the city typically does not comment on active cases.
The case is set for trial on Sept. 18.
