Nashville firefighter up for $450K payout after calling council members white supremacists

Rachel Wegner, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
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Nashville resident Josh Lipscomb, whose stage name is Sir Joshua Black.
Nashville resident Josh Lipscomb, whose stage name is Sir Joshua Black.

Nashville's legal department has recommended a $450,000 settlement with firefighter Joshua Lipscomb after he was suspended after calling Metro Council members "white supremacists" in a social media post.

The final decision on paying out the settlement will go to a vote before the Metro Council on Tuesday evening, according to a resolution filed last week.

Lipscomb, who is also a comedian known as Sir Joshua Black, made the post Feb. 3 on Twitter under his comedian account after the Metro Council approved the use of license plate readers in Nashville. Some say the readers could be misused to disproportionately target Black and brown communities.

"I hate feeding into the illusion that America’s government and existence is legitimate so I'm no fan of voting," the post read. "But the majority of Nashville City Council is white supremacists. I know it's boring, but millennials HAVE to start caring about local elections. These folk want us dead."

Lipscomb did not identify himself in the post as a fire department or city employee.

Thomas Lipscomb, a retired Nashville Fire Department assistant chief, pins a badge on his grandson Josh Lipscomb.
Thomas Lipscomb, a retired Nashville Fire Department assistant chief, pins a badge on his grandson Josh Lipscomb.

A Nashville Fire Department panel later concluded he violated department policy. He was suspended for 16 days. Lipscomb was previously suspended for eight days in 2020 for harassing a local business owner on social media.

Nearly a dozen Metro Council members voiced their support for Lipscomb after his February post, saying he had a right to share his opinion.

Lipscomb filed a lawsuit in August against the fire department and the city over the suspension, claiming the punishment is an unconstitutional restriction of free speech.

Metro Legal recommended the settlement, stating costs may increase if the lawsuit continues and legal fees mount, and if a jury ultimately rules in Lipscomb's favor, according to the resolution. The settlement would take $425,000 from the city's judgement and losses budget and $25,000 from the fire department's budget.

The city regularly settles lawsuits over a host of reasons, instead of taking those cases all the way to trial.

Lipscomb's case marks one of the more high-profile lawsuits against Nashville in recent years. In 2021, the city settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of Daniel Hambrick, who was fatally shot by a police officer, for $2.25 million. In 2020, the city settled a lawsuit with the family of Waffle House shooting victim Akilah DaSilva for $35,000. The family sued because the city's 911 dispatchers initially sent first responders to the wrong Waffle House.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville comedian Sir Joshua Black may get $450K settlement from city