Attorney General Letitia James attends funeral services for slain NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller in Massapequa, New York, on Saturday March 30, 2024. (Theodore Parisienne for NY Daily News via Getty Images)
"Get the EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity] office straightened out. Take some of your brilliant lawyers from the Corporation Counsel and put them in there and start holding hearings. That’s not a request, that’s a direction," Garaufis responded, according to N.Y. Daily News. "I’ve lived in New York City all my life. I know what the problem is. And believe me, front and center is what happened the other day. This doesn’t have to do with politics, this has to do with race."
The Vulcan Society accused the city of discrimination in a 2007 lawsuit, which the city agreed to settle for $98 million in back pay and benefits for aspiring minority firefighters in 2014.
While the case was still ongoing in 2011, Garaufis ruled that firefighter exams intentionally discriminated against Black people, according to the Daily News. A federal appeals court later overturned that conclusion but allowed Garaufis’ proposed solutions, including the appointment of a federal monitor, to stand.
Judge Nicholas Garaufis. (Jesse Ward/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
"You have 900 lawyers sitting doing other things in the Corporation Counsel’s office and lawyers all over the city government. Put them on detail, they already work for you, and do it. One hundred eighty days is not acceptable," Garaufis said. "And I want the commissioner here at the next meeting."
"I don’t know what she’s doing, but she’s not working on this. And she’s a former judge. I doubt she’d be too happy about having her orders ignored and her instructions ignored," Garaufis added of Hinds-Radix.
"Commissioner Kavanagh and the FDNY is committed to providing a professional work environment free of discrimination and harassment for all Department employees, which is why we continue to work with our city partners so we can effectively re-staff the EEO office," FDNY spokesman James Long said, according to the Daily News.
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh apologized on behalf of department members who booed Attorney General Letitia James. (Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
He reportedly added that FDNY top brass are "having ongoing conversations with our members about decorum during department events."
"The FDNY takes every EEO complaint seriously, diligently investigates each complaint, and is committed to addressing the complaint backlog," Law Department spokesman Nicholas Paolucci told the newspaper. "The court has previously expressed appreciation for the Corporation Counsel’s active engagement in finding solutions in the past, and continued to acknowledge that a lot of the city’s efforts have been done well. We’ll be updating the court on how we plan to further assist the FDNY EEO Office."
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
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