A former Kennewick fire chief is suing the southeastern Washington city in federal court, saying he was fired because he is black and opposes discriminatory practices against racial minorities and women.

Former Kennewick Fire Chief Vince Beasley worked for the Kennewick Fire Department for 40 years, including as chief from 2014 to 2019. He is seeking a jury trial, lost wages, emotional harm and punitive damages, the Tri-City Herald reported.

Beasley’s attorney, Beth Bloom of Seattle, said Kennewick City Manager Marie Mosley, who is named as a defendant, unlawfully held Beasley higher than white employees.

Beasley met more than 90% of city-set performance goals from 2016 to 2019, which was above numbers that Mosley called “outstanding,” according to the U.S. District Court lawsuit.

He received numerous awards and grants and improved the city’s firefighting capabilities, according to an independent agency, which the city touted in a press release three months before he was fired, according to the lawsuit.

In late 2018, Beasley began openly opposing the city’s alleged racist and sexist culture and hiring and retention practices, which favored white men, according to the lawsuit. He encouraged Mosley to “serve more than just white residents” and demanded that she “hire more than just white men for vacancies.”

Beasley is the only black firefighter hired at Kennewick for more than 100 years, according to the lawsuit.

Mosley reacted to Beasley’s concerns “with cold silence and becoming distant,” the lawsuit said.

During his annual performance review in March 2019, his 2018 performance was rated negatively, with no mention of his successes, according to the lawsuit.

“Chief Beasley speaking out and being assertive about discrimination in late 2018 sparked racial bias,” the lawsuit said. “Ms. Mosley assessed Chief Beasley’s performance differently in part because of his race, whether she was aware of it or not.

In the months before Beasley was fired, Mosley began giving him new excessive and unreasonable work assignments, according to the lawsuit. On September 3, 2019, the lawsuit alleges that Mosley demanded that Beasley resign or she would fire him. He refused to resign and on September 18 was fired, according to the lawsuit.

The town of Kennewick said in a statement this week that “the reasons for Mr. Beasley’s departure are well documented in the media and public records.”

City also repeated a statement from September 2019, saying Mosley had worked with Beasley for a long time on performance and leadership issues.

City officials said at the time that they could not release sensitive personnel information.