LANSING, Mich. — It’s been over two years since former Lansing firefighter Michael Lynn Jr. filed a lawsuit claiming racial discrimination and a hostile work environment within the fire department.
A Federal judge has dismissed one portion of the lawsuit, but allowed other portions to move to trial.
“No way I’m going to stop fighting,” Lynn said. “I think they underestimated the fight in me.”
Lynn started working for the department in 2014, and says he was a victim of discrimination.
“Best way I would sum it up, is it was literally a dream turned into a nightmare,” Lynn said.
Lynn received a right to sue letter in 2017, but did not file the lawsuit until 2019.
“I was under the impression that the city of Lansing was going to try and work on these issues, so I didn’t file right away,” he said. “I was still allowing the city to work on these issues, but it’s just not what ended up happening.”
The lawsuit alleges Lynn faced resentment within the department and he said he once found a banana wedge on the windshield of a fire truck. According to the lawsuit, Lynn complained to Human Resources about these incidents.
“I thought that there was help out there with the city, and come to find out that there really wasn’t any.”
Lynn was fired from the department in February of 2021 after posting former Lansing police chief Daryl Green’s phone number online.
On Thursday, US District court Judge Paul Maloney dismissed the racial discrimination portion of Lynn’s lawsuit, claiming he had limited evidence of adverse employment action..
“I think we’re focused on the wrong aspect of them dismissing a part of it,” Lynn said. “I think what’s more important is they allowed a lot of it in.”
Maloney did clear the way for Lynn’s hostile work environment complaints to move forward, and he said the city does not have evidence that they properly handled Lynn’s harassment and discrimination complaints.
“It didn’t just die there, so that’s the most important aspect is that we’re going to get our day in court,” Lynn said.
FOX 47 News did reach out to the City of Lansing, but did not hear anything back.
