Floyd E. Clark seemed to have broken a glass ceiling in 2011 when he was promoted to chief of the Ontario Fire Department, the first African-American to hold the top job.
But Clark was fired in late June, an action he says was racially motivated when he complained about hiring practices within the department. He says that when he started as a fire inspector in 1986, he was the only black firefighter, and since then, not a single black firefighter has been hired.
His attempts as chief to change that record, he says, brought him into conflict with the department brass and City Hall and led to his ouster.
“Ontario discriminated, and continues to discriminate against African/American employees, specifically (Clark),” according to a 39-page complaint filed July 14 in San Bernardino County Superior Court.
Clark, 57, was fired June 29 after what he calls a monthslong “campaign, plan and scheme” by City Manager Al Boling to force him into early retirement.