San Francisco city officials have launched a formal probe into allegations of racism and hazing at their fire training academy, NBC Bay Area has learned.
The probe, which began this week, is in apparent response to allegations spelled out in a letter sent by eight African American trainees to Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White.
The eight authors, who called themselves the “brave men of color,” wrote that they were offended by the use of the N-word in a training session and alleged “retaliatory, demeaning, punishing, and racist/sexist behavior” at the academy.
In rebuttal, other classmates have signed a petition saying, “each of us is treated fairly, without any indication of racism, sexism, or favoritism’’ by the academy training cadre.