9 Investigates: Legal fees mount for Orange County Fire Rescue in discrimination case

There are allegations of racial discrimination within Orange County Fire Rescue.

The claims surfaced as part of a lawsuit filed four years ago by an employee who was terminated.

Stanley McLean settled that discrimination lawsuit against the county and got his job back—though an internal investigation found there was no discrimination.

The lawsuit cost the county $155,000 in legal fees alone.

In a second lawsuit, McLean claimed he was retaliated against and fired again because of that first lawsuit. A jury agreed.

The county is appealing the decision and has already paid out $27,000 in legal fees.

McLean is waiting to finalize the jury verdict against Orange County as he fights to get his job back, again.

His attorney argues the county wouldn’t be in this position if McLean hadn’t been terminated the first time in 2014.

The former firefighter lieutenant was one of at least six fire employees who were caught in county vehicles running personal errands while on the clock.

The county called it time sheet fraud.

According to a civil lawsuit, only the three black employees were fired.

David Hepker was in charge of the investigation.

He told the jury that he recommended suspension to demotion, since others who committed a similar offense “had not been terminated.”

He based that on a “list of comparables” that he developed to ensure fairness when employees were disciplined.

Hepker testified Chief Otto Drozd decided to fire the employees after a meeting with Mayor Teresa Jacobs.

Hepker said at some point that list of comparables was altered ---and he "saw a different list that didn't include all the individuals he put in as comparables."

It’s unclear if a "list of comparables" the county provided to WFTV is the one mentioned in the lawsuit.

The county decided shortly after that meeting to settle the case and McLean got his job back, with back pay, as though he had never been terminated.

His discipline was changed to a reprimand in his personnel file.

The problem: He had already taken money out of his retirement account over the two years he was gone from the fire department.

So when he was rehired, the state determined someone had to pay back the cash, or the county had to once again terminate his employment for six months before he could come back.

McLean’s attorney argued the county could’ve simply explained the circumstances to the state.

Instead, the county used it as a reason to fire McLean for a second time because they never wanted him back in the first place, according to his attorney.

The county strongly denies those claims in court records, but would not comment for this story because of the pending appeal.

The attorney said in court that they didn’t even know McLean took out the retirement money until after the settlement had been signed.

The county contends they offered to revise the agreement in a way that would “fix the problem.”

But McLean said it would’ve required him to agree to self-terminate, and he didn’t quit. He said the county was trying to force him out.

Cox Media Group