A Tenafly firefighter on medical leave is suing the borough and several senior members of the fire and police departments for alleged racial discrimination and infringement of his civil rights.
David Kurtz, a volunteer firefighter since 2003, claims he’s a victim of anti-Semitism. He also claims that he has faced constant harassment for seeking workers’ compensation and for his criticisms of how borough leaders handled his requests, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in New Jersey.
Deposition hearings have been scheduled for the next few weeks.
The suit names Richard Philpott, Tenafly’s fire chief; Michael Johnston, former fire captain; William Connolly, president of the Firemen’s Association; and Paul Cantwell, a recently retired firefighter and police lieutenant, as being responsible for the harassment that Kurtz experienced.
“My clients contend that at no time was he [Kurtz] a target of discrimination. He suffered an injury. He took some time off because of an injury. It caused some acrimony,” said Thomas Hanrahan, the attorney representing the borough of Tenafly and the four men named in the suit.
In addition to alleged retaliation related to his injury, Kurtz said in the suit that, on multiple occasions, he was the recipient of name-calling and threats related to his Jewish background.
Hanrahan called Kurtz’s claims of discrimination “frivolous.”
There are other Jews in the fire department, and based on interviews with them and other members of the organization, Hanrahan acknowledged that jokes were made about Jews, although comments about other racial groups also have been made in jest.
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2 Responses
“David Kurtz, a volunteer firefighter since 2003…”
If he’s volunteer, why is he asking for workman’s comp?
Too bad Tenafly has come a long way from the dark days of the early 80’s and the Van Nostrand era , as a whole the fire dept are good guys who like any other fighting co in company is not traditionally Jewish . I have worked for 30 years in this town and maybe it’s just a coincidence , but as long as I can remember the name PAUL CANTWELL has been spoken in the same sentence as anti -Semitism and intoxication . Sad