Racial-bias suit settled in Camden

An eight-year-old racial-discrimination lawsuit brought by two deputy fire chiefs against Camden and its fire chief has been dismissed, according to court records.

Under the settlement, which has been tentatively approved by attorneys, Fire Chief Joseph Marini would retire and the deputy chief still in the department would leave next year, according to sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The other deputy already has retired.

Gregg L. Zeff, the attorney for former Deputy Chief Terrence Crowder and Deputy Chief Kevin Hailey, who are black, confirmed that a $1.15 million settlement has been tentatively reached.

Marini declined to comment yesterday.

It is unclear if the city or the state, which controls Camden, will be responsible for the $1.15 million.

"My clients are extremely pleased that this long and hard process is over," Zeff said. "Everybody compromised to do what's best for the City of Camden, and they're especially pleased about the noneconomic terms that will help the city and Fire Department heal from this open wound that has been going on for more than 10 years."

As part of the settlement, fire officers would get racial-sensitivity training, he said.

The attorney for the city, John Eastlack, said a joint statement would be issued when all issues are resolved. He said he could not talk before that time.

The federal suit, filed in 2001 against the city, Marini, and former officials, was based on the firefighters' contention that for years they had worked in a hostile environment while being passed over for promotions and denied overtime because of race.

Hailey said fire officials had ostracized him in the 1990s after he enforced a departmental residency requirement that recruits live in Camden. Since most residents in Camden are not white, Hailey said, he was considered racist against white applicants.

Crowder alleged he was transferred to positions that wouldn't allow him to get the skills necessary to become chief.

The men also said they had been denied overtime work after they publicly questioned the department's long history of exorbitant overtime pay.

In 2004 a jury found the men had been discriminated against and awarded them more than $1 million. During posttrial motions, the judge found there was an error in the verdict sheet, and a new trial was ordered on the approximately $600,000 punitive damages, Zeff said.

That new trial had been scheduled for this week.

A second suit was filed in 2006 because of allegedly continued racial discrimination against the deputy chiefs since the first suit.

Over the last several weeks, a tentative agreement was reached resolving all legal issues, court documents show.

City Council and the state have yet to sign off on the settlement, and U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Semandle has to authorize it.

Marini, who is white, has been with the department for 37 years, the last nine as chief.

He has had a tumultuous year with the department.

In January, he was blasted by the firefighters' union for developing a departmental restructuring plan that Camden's state-appointed chief operating officer had ordered.

Also this year, state officials investigated the department's books to look for misspending, and the state attorney general led a probe into an alleged promotional-exam cheating scandal. State officials have not alleged wrongdoing in either matter.