SJC rebukes Brookline, rules town was wrong to terminate firefighter who cited racist work environment By John R. Ellement Globe Staff,Updated April 27, 2021, 1:23 p.m. Email to a Friend Gerald AlstonNathan Klima for The Boston Globe The stateâs high court Tuesday unanimously sided with a former Brookline firefighter who has been battling with the town since 2010 over what he has called a racist work environment that was allowed to flourish in the wealthy communityâs fire department. The Supreme Judicial Court said the town was wrong when it terminated Gerald Alston after he refused to return to the job and stopped communicating with the department, a refusal Alston linked to his fear of working in a racially hostile environment. Alston also acknowledged using cocaine, the court said, which the town cited when its Select Board fired him in 2016.