‘Witch Hunt’: Toledo’s First Black Woman Fire Captain Says White Colleagues Harassed, Lied About, and Publicly Smeared Her While City Looked Away
The Toledo Fire & Rescue Department’s highest-ranked female Black officer filed a racial and gender discrimination lawsuit against the department and several of its leaders, alleging that she has been subjected to years of harassment, bullying, false accusations and ridicule. Capt. Komako Goolsby, who has served in the fire department since 2006, was the first African-American woman promoted to captain in September 2022, according to her lawsuit filed in the Common Pleas Court of Lucas County, Ohio and obtained by Atlanta Black Star. Since then, some of her fellow officers have turned against her, she claims, investigating and disciplining her for minor infractions, and making false and slanderous statements about her online. Komako Goolsby celebrates becoming the first Black fire captain in Toledo Fire & Rescue Department. (Photo: Instagram/jtwadsworth) In October 2022, Lt. Joseph Zuber, who is white, made an allegation that a finger pulse oximeter had previously gone missing while she was in charge of a crew on duty. Rather than properly file a lost equipment report, then-Lt. Goolsby had agreed with a suggestion to buy a replacement at a local supermarket, tapping the fire station’s “house fund” for $28, reported The Toledo Blade. Later, Assistant Chief John Kaminski “made a huge deal about it” and demanded that Goolsby’s captain's bars be taken away, and that she receive a 15-day suspension, which the lawsuit says was a recommended punishment “not commensurate with the violation.” ‘Egregious’: Judge Scolds Pennsylvania Cop Who Locked Up Black Teen for Nearly a Month and Hid Evidence That Proved His Innocence In the end, Goolsby repaid the $28 and received 16 hours of officer development training for the episode. The complaint says Zuber constantly harasses Goolsby and, at times, has “gotten directly in face in attempts to intimidate her.” Though he does not work with her directly, Zuber has filed at least five internal affairs complaints against her based on false accusations, and also went to several fire stations “making bullying and harassing statements” about her, the lawsuit says. Goolsby has complained to superiors about Zuber’s “hostile behavior,” but he has received no discipline or counseling for it, she claims. Perhaps the most serious charge Goolsby has faced is that she falsified a report related to an emergency call on an elderly woman who had fallen down in her home on Dec. 27, 2023. According to fire department records obtained by The Blade, Goolsby, the only paramedic on the crew, did not accompany three firefighters from her engine who went into the home to assist the woman, and then submitted a report containing patient information for a person who was not involved. Goolsby later explained in a memorandum that she was ill and vomiting outside the truck during that call, and thought her crew could handle lift-assisting the fallen woman, who was "a regular patient who calls often.” Goolsby attributed her mistake of including another patient’s information in the report to her illness and a “foggy” brain. In March 2024, then-Acting Fire Chief Kaminski investigated Goolsby over her handling of the call and charged her with making a false report, carelessness, incompetence, and conduct detrimental to the fire department in a written counseling document that was then leaked to The Blade. “It was not an event that should have received discipline substantively,” her attorney Richard Mitchell told The Blade at the time. “There have been other people who have done the same thing and not been brought to task for it. Someone is causing her to be targeted for attack.”The lawsuit contends that white firefighters, including captains in the Toledo fire department, routinely receive counseling, and that information is not leaked to news organizations. Also in March 2024, Fire Chief Michael Romstadt, who is white, repeatedly slandered Goolsby on Facebook, the complaint says, accusing her of “not acting as an officer.” Other white firefighters chimed in, agreeing with him and making negative comments. This activity violated the City of Toledo’s social media policy, but the officers faced no consequences, the lawsuit claims.Lt. Eric Pinkham, along with other white firefighters, displayed Proud Boys and Trump clothing while holding rifles, and “degraded and harassed” Goolsby and other African-American female city employees on Facebook without consequences, the complaint says. In contrast, a minority employee who complained about Pinkham, in another unrelated discrimination complaint, was disciplined. Goolsby complained to the city’s diversity, equity and inclusion office concerning her belief that she was being subjected to ongoing harassment because of her race and gender in March 2024. The following month, she wrote to Battalion Chief Kirk Keane that the discrimination had escalated because the previous harassment had not been addressed, including other officers disrespecting her in public, online and on public radio. In June 2024, Fire Chief Allison Armstrong, who is white, sent Goolsby a letter that she was being charged with backing into a fire station without a backer (another person assisting) and allegedly ordering a driver to do the same. The city did not interview Goolsby or follow its usual investigative process before charging Goolsby, the complaint says. Meanwhile, Capt. Kristin Turner, who is white, sent an email to several employees “inquiring if they ever had a problem with” Goolsby and if they had a personal journal documenting their concerns.“Captains outside of Plaintiff Goolsby’s protected classes are not subjected to this type of witch hunt,” the lawsuit says. Despite complaining about the harassment to Battalion Chief Verdell Franklin several times since she became a captain, the city of Toledo has not adequately addressed her concerns, the lawsuit says, and has instead subjected her to monthly investigations, disrespect from subordinates, and hostile working conditions. “It is clear the Toledo Fire and Rescue Administration and City of Toledo officials are attempting to find a reason to terminate her employment, rescind her Captain bars, or force her to resign,” the lawsuit says.“Inconsistency is the hallmark of disparate treatment,” Mitchell told Atlanta Black Star in a statement. “There have been years of her being treated differently as to selective enforcement of rules, rumors and innuendo taken as fact, and intimidating conduct met with indifference when she complained.” Mitchell declined to identify specific instances of harassing comments, slander and false accusations made by fire department employees referred to in the complaint, noting the litigation is still in the discovery phase. The lawsuit accuses the city of Toledo, Kaminski, Romstadt, Zuber, Pinkham, Tanner and three other fire department employees of racial and gender discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation in violation of Ohio law. It says Goolsby has suffered lost wages, emotional distress, and consequential damages and seeks a jury trial to determine compensatory and punitive damages in excess of $50,000 for each defendant, plus legal costs, amounting to at least $1.5 million. According to court records, the city of Toledo, which asked for an extension, has until Nov. 19 to file an answer to Goolsby’s complaint. The Toledo fire department did not immediately return a request for comment from Atlanta Black Star. In a statement to WTOL last month, a spokesperson for the city said: "The Ohio Civil Rights Commission previously reviewed the same allegations and determined that it was not probable that the City of Toledo or the firefighters named in the lawsuit engaged in any unlawful discriminatory practices. It is unfortunate that these unfounded claims continue to divert time and attention from the important work of the Toledo Fire & Rescue Department."
