A Denver civil service hearing officer has denied the appeal of a former Denver Fire Department lieutenant who was released in 2022 after repeated instances of derogatory racist remarks in the workplace. These remarks earned Jared Russo the nickname “Racist Rover.”
CBS
In a 20-page decision dated June 11, Carrie Clein, hearing officer for the Denver Civil Service Commission, upheld Russo’s dismissal, noting that Russo had “a deep-rooted problem that may be difficult, if not impossible, to resolve.”
Russo joined the fire department in 2011 and was promoted to lieutenant in 2020. But according to Denver Fire Department testimony, Russo told an Asian firefighter “that he was driving well for an Asian,” an African-American firefighter “that all black people look the same,” and a Jewish firefighter who had lost family members in the Holocaust “that Jews starved to death in the Holocaust, not perished from Nazi atrocities.”
Although the hearing officer wrote that Russo was considered knowledgeable and good at his job and was well-liked by colleagues who got to know him, he was also described by colleagues as “a conspiracy theorist… socially awkward… very outspoken about his beliefs.”
The hearing officer wrote that the victims of Russo’s comments believed he was joking and did not take offense. Six fellow firefighters wrote letters in support of Russo.
Clein wrote that Russo was “not a ‘racist’ in the traditional sense of the word,” but that he “fostered racism in the workplace through his ignorance of the consequences of his behavior and his inability to assess other people’s feelings.”
Ultimately, the hearing officer said that while Russo may not have intended to demean or hurt people, he still violated department policy.
Although Russo admitted wrongdoing, the hearing officer found that Russo was not serious about his admission of wrongdoing.
Clein wrote: “It is also reasonable to assume that the damage done to some of (Russo’s) labor relations may never be repaired.”
Although the hearing officer concluded that Russo had “no malicious intent,” she upheld his dismissal from the department.
