Franklin

I. Background

15 Plaintiff Vernon Franklin was a firefighter/EMT with the Kingsburg City Fire Department 16 between 2006 and 2017. Franklin was the first and only African American member of the Fire 17 Department. Tim Ray was the Fire Chief at the time. Defendants are Chief Ray and the City of 18 Kingsburg. 19 In 2014, Franklin got into an altercation with a white co-worker. Franklin was written up 20 while the co-worker was not. At an unspecified time in the past, Franklin had also been written up 21 for unsafe driving and put on six-month paid leave while the incident was investigated. Franklin 22 was responsible in part for maintaining self-contained breathing apparatus (“SCBA”) equipment 23 used by the Fire Department. In September 2015, Franklin asked Chief Ray if he could take a 24 course on SCBA maintenance he thought was necessary for ensuring their safe use. Chief Ray 25 denied the request. Franklin then e-mailed his request to Chief Ray, City Manager Alex 26 Henderson, and the City of Kingsburg Safety Council. Franklin’s supervisor, Captain Bob 27 McGee, told Franklin in October that Chief Ray and the City Manager were upset with his e-mail 28 and that he…