NJ Deputy Chief Accused of Racist COVID-19 Remark to FF

A Plainfield firefighter is suing the city and a fire official over an racist comment allegedly made during a coronavirus training session at the start of the pandemic.

Timothy Burkhard, who is Asian American and was hired in 2018, filed the discrimination lawsuit against Deputy Fire Chief Pietro Martino and the city after Martino made “racist comments about Asians” to Burkhard during the fire department’s training on COVID-19 in March, the complaint says.

Martino mockingly asked Burkhard if he had been to Wuhan, China recently and “squinted his eyes so that they narrowed in a racist caricature of Asian facial features," the lawsuit contends.

At least 19 firefighters at the training saw the incident but did not object to the comment, the complaint alleges.

“The actions and leadership of Martino has created a work environment wherein firefighters now believe it is acceptable workplace behavior to openly disparage Asian Americans for their race and as being responsible for the spread of coronavirus,” reads the suit, filed in Union County Superior Court.

Plainfield and the fire director did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Martino was not disciplined for the comment and did not apologize, the suit says. He has engaged in prior workplace harassment incidents which the city of Plainfield “knew or should have known," according to the filing.

Burkhard contends Martino violated New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination and that he suffered “annoyance, inconvenience, stress, anxiety, humiliation, depression and severe emotional distress.”

“Defendants failed to prominently display an anti-discrimination policy and failed to provide proper training and supervision to prevent workplace discrimination,” the complaint alleges.

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