Nationwide — Randy Brown, an African American firefighter from Charleston, South Carolina, is suing his fire district and its chief after he found a noose around a Black CPR training mannequin at his station. He alleges that officials failed to identify who placed it there and later treated him as uncooperative instead of protecting him from racial harassment.
Brown, who has worked for the Low Country Area Fire District for 18 years, discovered the noose in September 2025 after another crew temporarily staffed his station. He reported it to his captain and a battalion chief, asking officials to investigate and condemn the display. He initially wanted an apology and acknowledgment of the incident, not anyone’s termination. However, internal investigators and outside counsel failed to identify the person responsible. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office also administered polygraph tests to some suspected crew members, but not everyone who had worked the preceding shift was tested.
According to Atlanta Black Star, the lawsuit questions why officials did not investigate firefighter Joseph Crawford more closely after his polygraph results came back inconclusive. It also cites a May 2026 training incident in which a female firefighter reportedly suffered a head injury during an exercise Crawford led. According to the complaint, he left her without assistance and later refused to file an incident report, allegedly calling her a “DEI hire.” The district did not discipline him and continued allowing him to oversee personnel training, the lawsuit claims. Brown argues that officials overlooked a potential lead while allowing a suspected crew member to remain in a leadership position.
Brown also accuses Fire Chief Ryan Kunitizer and the St. John’s Fire District of failing to address the racial incident publicly. The fire commission discussed the matter in a closed session in October 2025 but never issued a public statement, according to the complaint. The following month, Kunitizer sent a department-wide email about mental health and supporting colleagues after another firefighter died by suicide, but did not mention the noose. Brown argues that the chief could address the entire workforce but chose not to acknowledge the racial threat. The lawsuit also says the district lacks clear policies for reporting and investigating workplace racial harassment.
The dispute intensified in 2026 when the district asked Brown to take a police polygraph test. His lawyers argued that he was the person who reported the harassment, not a suspect, and that federal law did not require him to submit to the examination. Brown filed a racial discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on June 18. After the agency notified him and his lawyer about the complaint, Kunitizer closed the investigation, citing Brown’s refusal to take the test. Brown alleges that the decision was retaliatory and made the investigation’s continuation dependent on his cooperation with the polygraph.
Filed on Sept. 23, the federal lawsuit accuses the district and Kunitizer of creating a racially hostile work environment, retaliation, and violating Brown’s right to equal protection. He seeks damages and court orders requiring the district to reopen the investigation, adopt stronger anti-harassment policies and remove claims that he failed to cooperate. He also says the unresolved incident has left him distressed and concerned about working alongside the person responsible. Kunitizer told Charleston’s Live 5 News that the department took the matter seriously and conducted a full investigation, but declined further comment because of the pending litigation. The defendants had not yet responded to the lawsuit in federal court.