Ex-NFL Player Turned Firefighter Sues CA Department

Firefighter Joe Echema, a star running back at Cal who played briefly for the Raiders, is suing the Redwood City Fire Department, alleging racial discrimination.

Echema, who is of Nigerian descent and played under the name of Adimchinobe Echemandu as senior in 2003 and for three NFL teams including the Raiders through 2007, said in a news release issued from his lawyer:

“Redwood City has a responsibility to promote an equal and inclusive fire service. Bias is something we all have and all experience. However, Redwood City and Redwood City Fire Department cannot continue to ignore bias and discriminatory treatment of personnel or the community we serve.”

Specifically, Echema told KPIX (Channel 5) he has faced harassment, including being sent sexually explicit pictures.

“I was harassed continuously because of ethnic background as an African American immigrant,” Echema said.

Echema joined the Redwood City Fire Department after a four-year NFL career that consisted of 19 games. Six of those came with the Raiders in 2006 and 2007. He has worked as a firefighter in Redwood City for the last 10 years.

Among Echema’s complaints, according to KPIX, are that he’s had supervisors use “the N-word” and that a captain told him Black Lives Matter protesters “need to be shot.”

“I know the nation is captivated with what happens to George Floyd and police brutality, but a lot of the same things in the police department is embedded in the fire department,” Echema said.

Echema is represented by Na’il Benjamin, who played football at Cal from 1993-96.

“They can acknowledge that yes, Mr. Echema received a text message that had a racial slur. That can’t deny it. It’s undeniable. But what they can deny, and what can act as if it doesn’t exist, is the overall climate that he’s dealing with,” Benjamin told KPIX.

The news release issued by the Benjamin Law Group alleges, “The Redwood City Fire Department leadership is itself under fire after reports of using racial slurs when discussing citizens in Redwood City and fellow firefighters.”

Echema, while playing under the name Echemandu, gained 1,195 yards on 238 carries for Cal in 2003 after missing two years with a knee injury. It ranks as the eighth-best rushing season in Cal history. He was a seventh-round draft pick by the Cleveland Browns and spent time with Minnesota, the Raiders and Houston. He had 28 carries for 110 yards in the NFL.

Melissa Stevenson Diaz, the city manager for Redwood City, told NBC Bay Area she could not comment on a case in litigation.

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