Subject of a misuse of powers investigation, Newark Fire Department Capt. Anthony Graves has filed suit alleging racial discrimination against several city officials.
NEWARK — Placed on leave, and currently facing an investigation for alleged abuses of power, Newark firefighter Capt. Anthony Graves has filed a lawsuit accusing several top Newark officials of racial discrimination and retaliation.
In the lawsuit, Graves alleges that his removal from active duty and the ongoing investigation into his activities as part of an anti-illegal dumping task force are retaliation for him raising concerns about what he now claims are unqualified department personnel.
Filed on Oct. 20, the lawsuit reveals a deep vein of acrimony between Graves and named defendants Mayor Ras J. Baraka, fire director James Stewart, fire chief John Centanni and other fire department officials.
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2015/07/newark_fire_directors_office_raided_by_corruption.html
Included among the allegations:
- Graves claims that after being given the responsibility of conducting eligibility checks on prospective firefighters and fire investigators, he was "harassed" by his superiors for disqualifying relatives and "political allies" of several city and fire department officials.
- While working as a detective with the fire department's investigations unit in 2014, Graves claims he was placed on restrictive duty after informing his supervisors that a former member of the investigations unit had allegedly failed to obtain a required investigator's certification.
- Supervisors denied Graves his employee rights by refusing to process filed grievances over the alleged harassment.
- The disciplinary action and alleged harassment stems from discrimination because he is African-American.
Reached at his home last week, Graves said of the accusations, "I stand by all of it."
A spokesman for the Newark Fire Department declined to comment on Graves' allegations, citing the ongoing nature of the lawsuit. A spokesman for Stewart also declined to comment on the suit. The city's law department has not returned calls for comment.
Beyond the accusations, Graves' lawsuit also sheds new light on the professional standards investigation into his activities.
Initiated by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, it was later taken over by the Union County Prosecutor's Office because of a previous relationship Graves had with an investigator within the prosecutor's office, sources told NJ Advance Media.
According to multiple law enforcement sources, investigators are focused on allegations that Graves misused powers granted to him as a member of the fire department's Arson unit to pull over vehicles for reasons unrelated to any fire investigation.
In his first public comment addressing the investigation, Graves told NJ Advance Media that he has "done nothing wrong" before deferring additional questions to his attorney.
Graves, a 16-year veteran of the department, was promoted to captain along with three others during a ceremony in October 2014, and was later appointed to supervise the Arson Squad.
Following his promotion, a Newark firefighter filed an internal complaint alleging that Graves had illegally pulled him over while driving in November 2014, the complaint states.
Months later, one of Graves' supervisors submitted a separate grievance in January 2015 alleging that Graves told a civilian that he could have him shot, the complaint states.
In the complaint, Graves denies all accusations of wrongdoing. He was reassigned out of the investigations unit in March 2015, pending the outcome of the investigation, and placed on sick leave two months later, where he remains.
In July, detectives with the Union County Prosecutor's Office's Corruption Unit raided the offices of Fire Director James Stewart in search of records related to the dumping task force, several sources told NJ Advance Media.
Members of the unit left with computers and other files of documents from offices belonging to both Stewart and a secretary, which the sources said were related to an investigation.
In response to questions about the status of the investigation into Graves' activities, a spokesman for the Union County Prosecutor's Office said he could neither confirm or deny the existence of the investigation.
Vernal Coleman can be reached at vcoleman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @vernalcoleman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
