An FDNY diversity official has said that it's 'most definitely' acceptable to keep a white firefighter off a ceremonial color guard so the flag bearers could all be black, according to a new report. 

White firefighter Lt. Daniel McWilliams filed a lawsuit claiming racial bias after he was removed from a flag-bearing unit at a November 2017 memorial mass honoring deceased members of the Vulcan Society, a fraternal society of black firefighters.

And FDNY's chief diversity and inclusion officer, lawyer Cecilia Loving, has defended the decision at a New York state Division of Human Rights trial, The New York Post reports. 

McWilliams was one of the three FDNY firefighters seen in an iconic photo as they hoist the American flag at Ground Zero in the days after the 9/11 attacks. 

According to McWilliams' complaint, he been selected by the FDNY Ceremonial Unit to serve as one of the flag bearers in the color guard at the memorial service. 

Being a flag bearer at the event was an 'esteemed honor and privilege' for McWilliams, according to his lawsuit, CNN reported. 

Upon his arrival at the event, however, McWilliams was barred from participating in the color guard by then-Vulcan Society president Regina Wilson because she allegedly had asked for an all-black color guard at the mass.