Former Firefighter's Racism Case Against Brookline Edges Forward

BROOKLINE, MA — A federal magistrate judge decided this week that a former Brookline Firefighter who was suing the town and 10 officials, including current and former Select Board members, town counsel the local firefighter union can continue with the lawsuit against them, just not with claims that don't relate to his case.

Both sides seem to be taking it as a win.

"As expected, the Court’s ruling on the Town’s Partial Motion to Dismiss Mr. Alston’s Complaint substantially narrowed the issues for trial," said Town Counsel Joslin Murphy in an email to Patch.

Brooks Ames, the attorney for former firefighter Gerald Alston sent out a press release outlining the latest, but did not offer further comment when reached.

In 2010 then-firefighter Alston came forward to report that a racial epithet was left on his voicemail by a white supervisor. He had the voicemail to prove it and that claim was not disputed. What was disputed was the handling of the incident and the later promotion of the supervisor, who was also recognized by the White House for his work as a firefighter.

In 2013, Alston with the aid of attorney Brooks Ames filed a case in federal court claiming a pattern of systematic racism within the town. In 2016 he lost his job after an investigation. His case gathered steam with within the town when two Brookline police officers joined his lawsuit saying they, too, had experienced race-related harassment within the Police Department. They later decided to pull out of that lawsuit and file a complaint with the state.

Last April A U.S. District Court judge dismissed a case against Town Meeting member and Advisory Committee member Stanley Spiegel who was also included in the lawsuit. The remaining defendants filed motions to get their names removed as well.

But this time around Judge Page Kelley dismissed the use of some of the claims of racism Alston was making in the U.S. District Court in Boston.

“Surely racism is a pervasive problem in our society,” Kelley wrote, “[b]ut not every example of racism in a town, or of favoritism toward white people, can be mustered to establish a municipal custom in a particular civil rights suit.”

She did say he could still site examples from the complaints of the two former Brookline Police officers who claimed racial harassment.

She also denied a motion to dismiss the case against the 10 people listed as defendants on Feb.6.

“[Alston] has adequately alleged that the Town defendants and each of the individual defendants engaged in racial discrimination, including harassment, retaliation, and termination, that adversely impacted his employment,” the finding reads. "He has adequately alleged facts from which one could infer that the harms he suffered were because of his race."

Both the town and Alston have 14 days from the time of the decision to file objections to the district court judge.

Previously on Patch

Ousted Firefighter Files New Claim Against Brookline: Report

Brookline Fires Firefighter Who Charged Racism

Brookline Cops File Complaint With State

Photo by Jenna Fisher