A former 23-year veteran employee of the Kansas City Fire Department is suing the department for racial discrimination. In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday, Travis Yeargans, who is black, says he's not the only one who has been discriminated against. The lawsuit claims KCFD has a "pattern and practice of not promoting African-Americans to any position above firetruck driver due to race." Yeargans was promoted in 1996 to driver but never to captain. The lawsuit says he made several attempts to get the promotion. It alleges Yeargans and other black candidates were "underscored" on oral and written exams and white candidates were "overscored." It also points out that African-Americans make up only 7.8 percent of KCFD captains and 13.5 percent of the entire department.