Botsford Firefighter Lodges Discrimination Complaint

By Andrew Gorosko

In response to allegations of ethnic slurs being made against a Botsford firefighter by an officer of the United Fire Company of Botsford, the first selectman is asking the chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners to investigate the matter and report back to him.

In a July 14 letter to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, Kambiz Moayedi alleges that “racist remarks” were made against him by a fire officer in his absence.

Mr Moayedi, 40, who is of Iranian descent, and who has taken a leave of absence as a firefighter from the Botsford organization, alleges that, in his absence, on at least one occasion, an officer of the fire company referred to him as a “terrorist” in the presence of that officer’s superior, who allegedly did not nothing to stop such remarks from being made by that officer.

Mr Moayedi further alleges that the officer also had referred to him as a “sand nigger” in his absence. Mr Moayedi joined the Botsford fire company in October 2004.

“I have received both verbal and written signed documentation by current volunteers that these comments were made, and always in my absence,” Mr Moayedi wrote in his letter to the first selectman.

Asked by a reporter to produce such documentation to corroborate his claims of slurs being made against him in his absence, Mr Moayedi declined to do so, saying that he would disclose such information at the appropriate time, if necessary.

“There is a serious racial problem within the Botsford Fire Department and it seems the issue stems from the top,” Mr Moayedi wrote to the first selectman.

Mr Moayedi wrote that he was born in the Middle East, but grew up and has spent most of his life in the United States, and is a US citizen.

“As a citizen and resident of Newtown, my wife and I are extremely concerned to have ignorant racist individuals working in our community, especially if they are working for organizations that represent the town, and their jobs consist of saving lives,” Mr Moayedi wrote to the first selectman. Mr Moayedi’s wife was born in South America.

Having the fire officer who allegedly racially slurred him remain in his position sends a bad message to the community and sets a bad example for children, Mr Moayedi wrote.

 Mr Rosenthal said this week that he has met with Mr Moayedi to discuss the matter.

In a July 25 letter to Kevin Cragin, who is the chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, Mr Rosenthal writes of “allegations of extremely inappropriate ethnic slurs made by and condoned by officers of the Botsford Volunteer Fire Company.”

“Please look into this matter and report back to me anything that you can find out about the validity of these allegations and what, if any, action has or will be taken by the fire company to resolve the matter, if the allegations are true,” Mr Rosenthal wrote to Mr Cragin.

Mr Cragin was not available for comment this week.

In a separate July 25 letter to Jay Nezvesky, president of the Botsford fire company, Mr Rosenthal advises Mr Nezvesky that Mr Cragin is investigating the situation on behalf of the town.

“Please cooperate with Kevin in his investigation. I am sure you will agree that none of us would condone behavior of this type, if true,” Mr Rosenthal wrote.

On July 25, the Board of Fire Commissioners held its monthly meeting.

BJ Halstead, who served as board chairman in Mr Cragin’s absence, said the panel would refer Mr Moayedi’s complaint to Mr Cragin for review.

All board members had received copies of correspondence from Mr Moayedi to Mr Rosenthal and two previous letters of complaint from Mr Moayedi to the Botsford fire company.

The Board of Fire Commissioners has seven members. Each of the five local volunteer fire companies elects one person to serve on the board. Those five board members elect two civilian board members. Mr Cragin is one of those civilians.

During a break in the board meeting, Botsford Fire Chief Wayne Ciaccia said of Mr Moayedi’s complaint, “We’re looking into it…We’re trying to get to the bottom of it…I want to talk to Kevin about it…We don’t have a problem with racial discrimination our firehouse.”

Chief Ciaccia said he also will discuss the matter with Mr Nezvesky.

In a July 22 telephone interview, Mr Moayedi said there are many good people at the Botsford Firehouse, but there are some people there who are racially prejudiced.

“I think it’s important that a message is sent out…I think the town needs to investigate this,” he said.

Mr Moayedi said he had written letters to the Botsford fire company in June and in May seeking to resolve his complaint, but after receiving no reply to those letters, he decided to approach the first selectman for a remedy.

“If I do not pursue it, I will be sending a message that it’s [racial discrimination] not a big deal,” Mr Moayedi said.

In a May 31 letter to the fire company’s general membership, Mr Moayedi wrote that, “Since I joined [the fire company] back in October of 2004, I have felt unwanted and unwelcomed by certain individuals. I joined…[to] help my community and the Town of Newtown, but as I got to know my superiors, I increasingly felt a sense of rejection.”

Mr Moayedi also sent copies of his complaint to Governor M. Jodi Rell and to US Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman.

Mr Moayedi said he also plans to file a complaint on the matter with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, an agency that formally investigates such allegations.