What the blazes?
‘Bigot’ boss turned hero firefighter into delivery driver: suit
An off-duty firefighter lauded as a hero by a Queens family that narrowly escaped their burning home claims in a lawsuit that bigot FDNY bosses relegated him to driving delivery vans instead of fighting fires.
Roben Duge, 32, was walking home from the subway in March when he spotted flames in his next-door neighbor’s house and rushed over.
The father of two children rescued from the home claimed that Duge “ran into the house and he just pulled the kids and [the grandmother] and pulled them out,” reports said at the time.
“I live to see another day,” grandmother Linda Mitchell said.
FDNY officials disputed published accounts at the time, saying that the residents were in the process of “self-evacuating” and that Duge met them at the door.
But even before the rescue, Duge was being disrespected “because of his race and color,” he claims in a Brooklyn federal court lawsuit.
A firefighter since 2013, Duge wanted to gain experience by working at a busier firehouse, so he transferred to Ladder 103 in East New York, Brooklyn. But once there, his boss kept him on the sidelines, he claims.
“You should go to the neighborhood you live in,” Capt. Daniel Florenco told Duge, according to court papers.
Florenco called Duge’s previous company to grill them on why “they had allowed the transfer,” Duge claims. He also allegedly denied Duge a “front piece” — the metal plate on the front of a firefighter’s helmet which identifies their firehouse — and lied about staffing protocols so Duge couldn’t take time off.
Florenco also reprimanded Duge for taking “an extremely desirable” detail with the Counter Terrorism Task Force, according to the claim.
In January 2017, Duge was assigned to a roof position during a fire but was “forced to carry out the job meant for two” when a smoke-eater sent to join him never made it — and Florenco used the incident to portray Duge as a “safety hazard,” he charges.
Florenco allegedly tried to force Duge to transfer out of Ladder 103. When Duge refused, a senior firefighter, who is white, told him, “If this were back in the day, you would have been punched in the face for refusing to transfer out,” the suit says.
Duge was then “reassigned to administrative duties driving a messenger van because he complained of how he was treated,” his suit says.
He’s been driving the van for a year, his lawyer, Aymen Aboushi, said.
The FDNY did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Florenco could not be reached.