Portland Faces Third Racial Discrimination Lawsuit From Black Firefighter In 18 Months

The City of Portland has settled a racial discrimination lawsuit with a Black firefighter, marking the third such case in 18 months.

A third Black firefighter in the past 18 months has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the City of Portland.

On Dec. 3, the Portland City Council approved a $60,000 settlement for David Barron, a 25-year veteran of Portland Fire & Rescue, KOIN reports. Barron, who had initially sought $3.25 million, claimed he faced years of race-based discrimination and retaliation, including denied promotions, racist harassment, and punishment for reporting discriminatory behavior.

In his lawsuit, Barron—who began with Portland Fire & Rescue in 1999 as an entry-level firefighter and now serves as a district-level fire inspector in the Fire Marshal’s Office for District 14—alleges that bureau leadership ignored complaints and gave white firefighters an advantage in promotions. After Barron filed the lawsuit in June 2024, a City of Portland attorney launched an investigation and found that he had made no prior HR complaints, union grievances, or professional standards complaints.

A professional standards review was initiated following the lawsuit to examine his allegations, but the city’s attorney stated that Barron declined to be interviewed or participate. The city maintained that its actions were lawful and that many of Barron’s claims were unsupported, time-barred, or based on hearsay. Ultimately, Barron chose the $60,000 settlement to resolve the lawsuit rather than face the expense and uncertainty of a trial.

Barron’s lawsuit is one of three recent discrimination cases involving Portland Fire & Rescue. In June, Black firefighter Eric Heard filed a suit alleging years of racial discrimination, retaliation, biased testing, and blocked promotions, seeking $3.25 million in damages. Earlier this year, a Multnomah County jury ruled that longtime firefighter Jason Wilson faced racial discrimination and retaliation, awarding him $275,000 in damages.

At a City Hall meeting, the Fire Chief of PF&R acknowledged there is “room for improvement” in employee training, citing the ongoing pattern of race-based discrimination lawsuits.

“I think there’s always room for improvement,” Fire Chief Lauren Johnson said. “I want to reassure you that this starts at the top. Anti-racism and equity are values of the city of Portland, they’re values for the fire bureau, and they’re personal values for me. So we lead against these issues from the top.”