YPSILANTI, MI -- Racism can go both ways, says an attorney suing Ypsilanti over its decision to retract an employment offer to a white fire chief candidate a day after he signed the contract.

Former Ypsilanti City Manager Darwin McClary, who was pressured to resign in March, selected Livonia Fire Captain Phil Kamm, who is white, over other candidates applying to become the city’s next fire chief, including then-Interim Fire Chief Ken Hobbs, a 30-year veteran of the department, who is black.

Phil Kamm and Ken Hobbs

The decision was met with backlash from the community and from City Council members who thought Hobbs deserved the job. Many in the community, based on public comment made at City Council meetings at the time, felt the selection was racially motivated.

McClary notified City Council of his selection of Kamm in a March 1 email and presented an employment contract at a March 5 council meeting, the lawsuit says.

Mayor Pro Tem Lois Richardson and Councilman Anthony Morgan, left their official seats to speak from the public podium during the public comment section of the March 5 meeting.

“Every black person in here knows we work on jobs” and “all of the sudden some little new person is brought in and we’re told to train them so they take a promotion that was ours," Richardson said.

By the time her allotted time expired, Richard continued speaking loudly as Mayor Beth Bashert banged her gavel and asked her to leave the podium.

" ... Every black person in here knows that this is nothing but racism ... " Richardson said. “Tonight, I stand here and I call the race card because that’s exactly what it is. It is nothing but racism, people, and I am tired of it.”

Morgan told the City Council he stood before the elected officials as an “ashamed citizen.”

In a city “that suggests that pride, heritage and diversity are valuable appears to be a constant, cruel joke,” he said. “African-Americans make up 14 percent of the total population, 13 percent of the state of Michigan and 27 percent of Ypsilanti. If we don’t represent this number fairly, we’re just joking.”

Hobbs, who was then the interim fire chief, also addressed council. He said McClary selected a candidate from a predominantly white suburb of Detroit.

“There is diversity on the (city) flag and I’ve always said that the fire department directly reflects the diversity of the community,” Hobbs said. “The chief you hired does not.”

Kamm signed his employment contract March 6. The following afternoon, Richardson, Councilwoman Nicole Brown and Councilman Peter Murdock, who has since died, requested an emergency meeting.

“Before that meeting, a Black Lives Matter banner was hung in the chambers of City Council,” the lawsuit says.

At the meeting, McClary submitted his resignation and many of the public comments focused on racial implications of his selection for fire chief, although McClary maintained race wasn’t a factor in his choice.

“I encourage anybody to look at the qualifications of the candidate that was selected ... to determine who was the best candidate for this position,” McClary said. “It was not (Interim Chief) Hobbs."

According to the lawsuit, the “underlying motivation” for the special meeting was “to ensure a black fire chief would be hired.”

Following the meeting, McClary’s replacement, interim City Manager Tony DeGiusti, sent Kamm a letter rescinding the city’s employment offer, the lawsuit says. Ypsilanti would appoint Hobbs as the full-fledged fire chief in June.

Attorney James K. Fett filed a civil rights lawsuit in federal court on Kamm’s behalf June 20.

He said white males are “often the whipping boy” of media and society, but it’s against the law to make a hiring decision based on skin pigment.

“The unhinged City Council members complain about racism and a lack of opportunities for minorities,” Fett told MLive. "That’s bunk.

“It’s simply not true, and they’re about to find out how wrong they really are.”

The lawsuit, which names Ypsilanti and each City Council member as defendants, requests punitive and economic damages, compensation for mental anguish and attorney fees.

A specific amount wasn’t designated.

Bashert said she is aware of the lawsuit but couldn’t comment at this time. A request for comment was also been sent to the City Council members and City Attorney John Barr.

The only response came from Councilwoman Richardson, who wrote in an email, “Thanks for asking, but no comment.”