Nashville deputy fire marshal becomes latest Black woman to file discrimination complaint in Nashville Fire Department
The Deputy fire marshal in the Nashville fire department is doing something that rarely happens. She is talking on camera about the discrimination she says she and other black women are facing by the administration in the department.
By Jeremy Finley
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — Nashville’s deputy fire marshal is the latest Black woman over the age of 50 to file a discrimination complaint against the administration of the Nashville Fire Department, News4 Investigates has learned.
Deputy Fire Marshal Maggie Lawrence, a 36-year employee of the department, filed an EEOC complaint in September saying she was discriminated against based on her sex, age and potentially race.
Lawrence told News4 Investigates that she routinely faces harassment following her filing of the EEOC complaint.
“Do you worry at all that backlash is coming my way if I do this?” asked News4 Investigates.
“Yes,” Lawrence said.
“And has it happened?” asked News4 Investigates.
“Yes. I mean it’s a daily thing,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence said she filed the complaint after a series of hostile meetings beginning late last year with administration, who were angry about complaints about the department reaching the Mayor’s Office.
Lawrence cited an especially hostile meeting with Tim Henderson, the deputy director of the department.
“He started cussing, started saying the F word throughout the whole thing. I was traumatized,” Lawrence said. “We were cursed out for minutes. He stated that someone had been going to the Mayor’s Office and telling them what was going on in the department in our section.
Lawrence said the threats were repeated later in another meeting with Fire Chief William Swann.
News4 Investigates obtained secretly recorded audio of that meeting.
“If you go outside this department, start running that mouth, saying stuff that’s negative for what reason to, whatever, air your dirty laundry, it’s going to come back to me anyway,” Swann said on the recording. News4 Investigates has obtained a copy of the Fire Marshal’s hearing last week before he was fired on Tuesday.
Lawrence said the warnings followed last year’s termination of Fire Marshal Al Thomas.
In a hearing before his termination, Thomas said his deputy directory should have the job.
“Deputy Fire Marshal Maggie Lawrence was ideal for the position,” Thomas said in the recording.
But Lawrence didn’t get the job. In fact, Lawrence wrote in her EEOC complaint that the fire marshal position wasn’t even posted.
Lawrence wrote in her complaint that another man, Lawrence Hutchinson, was brought in from another department, having never worked in the fire marshal’s office.
In the meeting with Swann, Lawrence was told exactly what she was to do for Hutchinson.
“Give him support to make sure that if anything he needs, or whatever he needs, you’re here to support him,” Swann said on the recording.
In her EEOC complaint, Lawrence, 63, wrote that Hutchinson, who is under the age of 50, was much less qualified than her, citing her Master’s degree.
She wrote that at the time of Lawrence’s appointment, she had never incurred any negative write ups.
Lawrence told News4 Investigates that after 36 years with the department, she had no intention of retiring.
But Swann said in the audio that he couldn’t put someone in the position who was considering retiring.
“It would not be smart of me to put someone in that position, at that level, and they are not going to be here but for the next few years,” Swann said on the recording.
“What did you think when you heard that?” asked News4 Investigates.
“It was a slap in the face. I wanted to get up and punch him in the face,” said Lawrence.
“What’s the culture like in the administration of the fire department?” asked News4 Investigates.
“It’s a good old boy culture,” Lawrence said.
The Deputy fire marshal in the city’s fire department is doing something that rarely happens. She is talking on camera about the discrimination she says she and other black women are facing by the administration in the department.
News4 Investigates has confirmed that Lawrence is just the latest black woman over the age of 50 who has filed a discrimination complaint against the department.
Former Deputy Fire Marshal Quinetta Bartley, former executive administrator Drusilla Martin and Paramedic Shelle Braden all filed EEOC complaints or federal lawsuits citing discrimination since 2014.
All of the three complaints or lawsuits were filed before Swann became chief in 2018.
While none of the three women would talk on camera, Bartley and Braden did confirm that after they filed their complaints, their careers were stalled during the Swann administration.
“Maggie’s not alone, and sadly, that’s not shocking,” Robb Bigelow, Lawrence’s attorney, said.
None of the three complaints or lawsuits made their way through the federal system.
Court records show both Braden and Martin hired the same attorney, who was arrested for unrelated matters.
Federal court records show that Martin cited the fact that she could not find another attorney to take her case as a reason for dismissing the lawsuit.
Bartley did confirm that her EEOC complaint did not progress to a federal lawsuit but did not remember the specifics of why.
For more than a week, News4 Investigates repeatedly emailed the fire department, sharing our findings.
A spokesman for the fire department said Metro Legal advised them against doing an interview, but did release a statement, reading in part,
“The Nashville Fire Department emphatically denies that Ms. Lawrence was discriminated based on her age, gender, or race. The department also denies completely any allegations of retaliation against Ms. Lawrence. Due to the ongoing EEOC investigation, the Nashville Fire Department will have no further comment on Ms. Lawrence’s unfounded allegations.”
Lawrence said at one point she did consider resigning, but she said her husband convinced her otherwise.
“He said, ‘You have to stay there because you have to fight for those who can’t fight,’” Lawrence said.
News4 Investigates will continue to try and speak with Swann about these allegations.
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