In the wake of news that the New York City Fire Department suspended nine firefighters for sharing racist messages and memes, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York summoned a special master, along with lawyers for the city and fire department leaders into his courtroom to tell them he did not want bad news to come to him through the media, but rather through the course of enforcing a longstanding consent decree.

Garaufis has been presiding over a lawsuit related to the integration of the fire department since 2007, with a series of special masters monitoring the department’s efforts since 2010.