By FireRescue1 Staff
LA HABRA HEIGHTS, Calif. — A former volunteer firefighter is claiming he was harassed and attacked while working for his former fire department.
ABC7.com reported that former La Habra Heights firefighter Jared Hartstein, 27, said the problems at fire station started when he was hired. Hartstein accused other firefighters of harassing him on the basis of his Jewish heritage, doing the Nazi salute in front of him and attacking his sexuality.
“The acting lieutenant grabbed his flash hood and he held it up like a KKK mask,” he said. “On my last shift, they drew a swastika in my training paperwork.”
City manager Tom Robinson said an investigation was completed in response to Hartstein’s allegations, according to Whittier Daily News.
“They concluded with a report, which did not substantiate the allegations that were made,” Robinson said. “The city took (the claims) seriously. We looked into it and didn’t find anything that substantiated the claim.”
Hartstein said he was also tangled up in multiple fire hoses and other firefighters shut off his air supply.
“I couldn’t breathe. There was no oxygen coming to my mask,” he said.
Hartstein said he has post-traumatic stress stemming from the breathing-air incident. He’s filing a lawsuit against the department, claiming his superiors at the department appeared to accept the behavior.
He began working for the department in June 2015 and resigned on Dec. 21, 2015.
“It just really hurts being labeled for my religion and culture when I just want to be a firefighter,” he said. “I don’t want to be known as anything else.”
Hartstein, who said he now has to see a therapist, works for a private security firm and teaches martial arts.