Army vet sues for FDNY reinstatement

Former firefighter and fire marshal seeks $2 million, federal injunction after 17 years of heroic service overseas

A former FDNY firefighter and decorated U.S. Army veteran who’s been denied a return to his old role in the department has asked a judge to immediately reinstate him as a fire marshal as part of a $2 million federal lawsuit filed against the FDNY. Leonard Draves alleged in the suit filed last July that the department is violating a federal law meant to protect veterans like him and guarantee them their old jobs back when they return from service.  

Draves, 64, worked as correction officer and New York City Transit police officer in the early 1980’s before becoming an FDNY firefighter in 1985, serving in that role for over a decade. He was then promoted to fire marshal in 1999, responding to 9/11 and serving in the makeshift morgue at ground zero through January 2002, a role that left him, later in life, with illnesses caused by the toxins floating above lower Manhattan.