Flint Mayor Must Face Ex-Fire Chief’s Suit Over Racism Cover-Up

Flint, Mich. Mayor Sheldon Neeley can be sued by the city’s ex-fire chief, who claimed he was unlawfully terminated for refusing to cover up the gross misconduct of two firefighters to help Neeley’s reelection campaign, the Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

Fire Chief Raymond Barton concluded that two white firefighters had lied about their efforts to search a home on fire, potentially due to racial animus, after other firefighters entered a home they declared “all clear” and found two young Black boys, visible to the naked eye, in a second-floor bedroom. The boys died, and Barton recommended the firefighters be discharged ...