CLEVELAND — A wrongful death lawsuit alleges racially motivated hazing led directly to the death of a Cleveland fire cadet last May.
Symeon Williams, 39, died during physical training at the Cleveland Fire Training Academy on May 16, 2025, "because of illegal and unlawful hazing."
READ MORE: Cleveland fire cadet dies during physical training
The lawsuit names the City of Cleveland and Lt. Vincent Russo, an instructor at the training academy.
Williams's sister, Terri Simpson, filed the lawsuit in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on Thursday.
"We believe his death that happened at the Cleveland Fire Academy, was due to the massive amount of racially motivated hazing he was enduring," Keith Hansbrough, Simpson's attorney, said. "He died during physical training there when he was being subjected to more physical training, punishment and other forms of harassment that are illegal in Ohio. "
Along with Williams's classmates and members of Cleveland Fire and EMS, Mayor Justin Bibb, Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond, IAFF Local 93 Union President Jake Konys, and other city officials went to the hospital to offer their support to family and friends of the fallen cadet.
What the lawsuit alleges
The lawsuit says Williams was the only African American cadet in his class after another African American dropped out of the academy class.
According to the complaint, Williams was then subjected to hazing, including but not limited to:
- "Extra physical activity," including extra running and push-ups
- "Physical punishment"
- "Denial of proper hydration and/or appropriate food during hot weather training"
- "Denial of afforded rest, appropriate rest and/or recovery over multiple days that led to a cumulative effect of creating a dangerous situation"
- "Multiple, cumulative days of overly rigorous activity without proper supervision"
- Hazing "designed to humiliate and/or demean him"
- Hazing "meant to punish him and/or cause him to quit the Cleveland Fire Training Academy"
- Hazing "meant to punish and prevent him from becoming a full-time City of Cleveland firefighter"
Read the full complaint here.
"It's the definition of hazing - and it should not have happened," Hansbrough said.
The lawsuit alleges the hazing was "motivated" by Williams's race and age.
It said, due to previous injuries, the defendants knew the hazing was "highly likely" to "cause severe injury and/or death," and that the defendants meant to cause him.
At 39, Williams was also in his final year of being eligible to become a Cleveland firefighter.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants "did not want a 39-year-old n the class and hazed him because of that in addition to his race."
Hansbrough also said the city failed to investigate Williams's death.
"It's remarkable that the City of Cleveland deemed him qualified to go to the training academy; he died at the fire training academy, and then they never looked into it," he said. "They just swept it under the rug."
The lawsuit also notes the fire department has a history of racially related problems.
READ MORE: Why are there so few Black Cleveland firefighters?
Last fall, News 5 Investigators found that only 13% of the department's firefighters are Black. The Vanguards, the union representing Black firefighters, has repeatedly called for changes to the city's selection process for firefighters.
Cleveland's response
The City of Cleveland declined our request for an on-camera interview.
However, city spokesperson Tyler Sinclair provided us with the following statement:
"This medical emergency was heartbreaking for his family, friends, fellow cadets, and everyone else who knew how caring, selfless, and compassionate Symeon truly was.
Unforeseen medical emergencies, like this one, are tragedies that cause immense sorrow – which is why Mayor Bibb, Safety Director Drummond, and other city officials all immediately rushed to the hospital to offer their support to his family and friends the night this occurred.
We continue to empathize with the grief they are enduring as his death remains a profound loss for our entire City."
Williams previously worked for Cleveland EMS from 2008 to 2011, Port Control from 2014 to 2023, and Sanitation from 2024 until he entered the Fire Academy this past April, the department said.
"It is tragic to lose someone so vibrant and close to achieving his lifelong goal of becoming a Cleveland Firefighter," Cleveland Fire said in a release after his death last year.
Williams was a lifelong Cleveland resident who graduated from John F Kennedy High School in 2004. He was a father who is survived by his two children, Symeon Jr., and Syme.
