New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Fire lieutenant injured in fatal house blaze sues to get job back, promotion
NEW HAVEN — Fire Lt. Samod “Nuke” Rankins watched his friend and fellow firefighter Ricardo Torres Jr. die as they fought a blaze on Valley Street that trapped two residents in May 2021.
Rankins was found unconscious and spent 10 days in critical condition at the Bridgeport Hospital Burn Unit and months recovering. He’s ready to return to work, according to his attorney Patricia Cofrancesco, who said her client has received the proper documentation from his health care providers.
But city is still denying him a return to his job and the promotion she said he deserves.
“He’s been to hell and back,” Cofrancesco said. “He was severely injured fighting a fire, witnessed the death of a firefighter who was with him and enduring the long road to recovery and this is how the city treats him.”
Rankins is suing the city and the Board of Fire Commissioners on claims he’s been denied a promotion and a return to work because of retaliation and discrimination, court documents said.
He is known as a larger-than-life figure in the New Haven community, not only as a firefighter but as an activist for the rights of members of the department and a local volunteer.
Rankins joined the fire department in February 2018. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant about two months before the Valley Street fire.
He was critically injured while battling the blaze on Valley Street that killed Torres when the two men became disoriented and trapped on May 12, 2021. Rankins and Torres Jr. were pulled from the fire after each made “mayday” calls, indicating distress, officials said at the time.
In the days after the fire, Mayor Justin Elicker called Rankins “a fighter” and said he had the support of the city.
“I’m optimistic and hopeful and here to support his family in this difficult time,” Elicker said.
After a “long road to recovery physically and mentally,” Rankins was cleared by his health care providers to return to work, he said in an email announcing the lawsuit, which was filed this week in state Superior Court.
However, Rankins claims city officials are denying him a return to work and they have passed him over for a promotion to the rank of captain even though he scored the fourth-highest on the list, according to the lawsuit.
He was passed over twice, Cofrancesco said, while nine other candidates, some of whom didn’t score as high as Rankins were given the promotion. If the list expires before Rankins gets promoted, he may have to take the test again, she said.
He contends the denial of his return to work and the promotion are retaliation for filing for workers’ compensation benefits due to his injuries and his previous lawsuits challenging the fire department’s promotional and hiring practices.
He’s also claiming discrimination, saying he’s the only Black candidate out of the 10 lieutenants who took the captain’s test, Rankins said.
He is seeking a return to work, the promotion to captain, the difference in pay during the period between when he was denied the promotion and now, a restoration of his seniority, an adjustment to his pension, attorney fees and costs and punitive damages of more than $15,000.
City officials said they are looking forward to Rankins’ return, but declined to say why he was being denied the promotion and the job.
“Given the pending litigation, the City of New Haven cannot comment on the substance of the lawsuit at this time, but Lt. Rankins’ service as a New Haven firefighter is to be commended and the fire department looks forward to him returning to work at the appropriate time,” Patricia King, the city’s corporation counsel, said in a statement.
The lawsuit contends he suffered injuries to his lungs, back, eyes, throat and internal organs and is now from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from battling the fatal blaze.
The city stopped making workers’ compensation payments in January, Cofrancesco said. She said her client has since been using accrued sick and vacation time to get paid.