A deputy fire chief in Plainfield will receive nearly a half million dollars in a discrimination lawsuit alleging he wasn't promoted within the fire department because he is white.

Jeffrey Courtney filed the discrimination lawsuit in 2016 against Plainfield Fire Chief Frank Tidwell.

"[Fire Chief Frank] Tidwell has made it clear that he does not want a white person to take the position of chief upon his retirement," the suit claims.

The lawsuit also alleges that Tidwell asked black firefighters "if they could take orders from a white man," but did not ask white firefighters if they could take orders from a black man.

Courtney's suit against Tidwell and the city alleges that Tidwell approved overtime for black firefighters to do work on his office, but cut back overtime for Courtney. An investigation into Tidwell's alleged misuse of funds for this incident has since been lifted.

The $450,000 settlement was agreed upon at a city council meeting on May 13, mycentraljersey.com reported.

Tidwell has filed his own tort claim-- which is not a lawsuit but threatens legal action -- against the city in 2017, claiming Plainfield officials have repeatedly tried to persuade him to retire so they can replace him with Courtney, who is white and 12 years younger.

Tidwell alleges in his tort claim that he was the subject of disparate treatment, a hostile work environment, the undermining of his authority and responsibilities as fire chief, the refusal to investigate his complaints, petty acts of harassment and bogus disciplinary investigations.

The settlement will be paid out to Courtney from the Public Entity Joint Insurance Fund, and it agrees that Courtney will retire from the department, effective Sept. 1.

Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. Find NJ.com on Facebook.