LANSING, Mich. — Former Lansing firefighter Michael Lynn Jr. said he had a sigh of relief after a federal jury sided with him in a hostile work environment lawsuit against the city.
“They saw me. They understood what I went through was traumatic, and they found that the city was guilty of that,” Lynn said.
Lynn filed the lawsuit in 2019 claiming mistreatment within the department because of his race. Lynn said the alleged discriminatory mistreatment started at the beginning of his eight years service with the department.
“Probably two days into my training, I noticed some of the Black people were being treated differently than everyone else,” he said.
The jury unanimously sided with Lynn and awarded him $1 million, but the lawsuit cannot be completed. The city has filed motions in the case, so the funds have not been distributed. But Lynn said he hopes to keep fighting, not just for himself, but for the others who also allege discrimination.
“I witnessed a lot of people who were afraid to come forward and afraid to fight this fight, so when I filed, it was me setting a tone that we’re not just going to put up with this,” he said.
FOX 47 did reach out to the city of Lansing to see if they wanted to provide any comment regarding the lawsuit, but our request was denied.
