Former Firefighter Rookie Files Suit, Claims Homophobic Hazing

A former probationary firefighter has filed a lawsuit in which he claims he was subjected to homophobic and racist harassment, with workplace colleagues accusing him of being a "closet homo" and trying to pressure him into having sex with a stripper, the New York Post reports.

When he did not comply with demands to have sex with a stripper, the suit says, the man was further disparaged with anti-gay epithets.

The suit was filed by Michael Troina, a Queens man who was stationed in Tribeca with Ladder Co. 1/Engine Co. 7, the Post reported.

The Post's article is a follow-up to an article published more than a year ago that reported on Troina's tribulations. That article detailed Troina's claims that colleagues hazed and harassed him from his first day at the station, with homophobic language property damage being part of the mix.

Not long before reporting on Troina's claims, the Post had also investigated claims made by another probie. Gordon Springs, the Post reported in January 2016, said he was "hazed and sexually abused" the previous year by "a group of naked firefighters," including "one who dangled his genitals into his face."

Troina, who is Hispanic, says he was told he "could not do the job like the... white firefighters," the Post article noted. Likewise, Springs, an African-American, claimed to have encountered racist language from his colleagues, one of whom allegedly told him that "blacks" lack a "good work ethic."

That same individual, Springs alleges, went on to say, "I could punch you in the face and there's nothing you can do about it." If Springs reported abuse, he was told, the firefighters would present a unified front and refuse to talk.

"Then, after everyone realized you called EEO, the real fun would begin," Springs says he was told.

Similarly, Troina claims he was told to shut up or suffer the consequences. In another parallel, both men say that other firefighters "stomped" their gear. Springs also claims that he did report some of the harassment he suffered, and was subsequently required to complete a little more than three weeks' worth of "retraining."

Troina was fired just a week before the end of his probationary period, the Post reported, with the FDNY saying the reason was a "failed evaluation."