Fire Law Blog

A wrongful termination suit brought by an Ohio fire chief has been dismissed, and he is now facing criminal charges related to allegations of sexual harassment. Port Clinton Fire Chief Kent Johnson was initially placed on administrative leave in June, 2023, and then terminated following allegations that he sexually harassed and assaulted a female firefighter.

The US District Court for the ED of LA has ruled that a fire department does not violate the 4th Amendment by requiring all personnel to submit to fingerprinting. Five firefighters with the East Bank Consolidated Special Service FPD filed suit last year, objecting to the district’s plan to use fingerprinting technology to clock in and out of work.

An Oregon jury has awarded $203,900 in damages to a lieutenant with the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue. Lieutenant Daniel Krug filed suit claiming he was pressured to remove himself from a promotional list for captain, and discriminated against on the basis of disability, veterans’ status, and whistleblower status.

A woman who was acquitted of arson charges last year for a fire that occurred in 2022, has filed suit against the Binghamton Fire Department and several law enforcement agencies that she claims were responsible for her malicious prosecution and fourteen months of incarceration. Marquetta James filed suit naming 6 entities and 7 individuals as defendants.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for July 22, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss a guilty plea entered by a St. Louis firefighter who stole a patient’s wallet and credit card; a race discrimination suit brought by a Savannah battalion chief following his demotion; an FLSA overtime lawsuit filed by a Denver firefighter claiming ...

A St. Louis firefighter who was accused of using a credit card that belonged to the victim of a vehicular accident he responded to last year, has pled guilty to receiving stolen property and fraudulent use of a credit card. Arnold S. Britt, 41, pled guilty to one felony and one misdemeanor charge, and in the process admitted to stealing the man’s wallet and credit card.

A Savannah battalion chief who was demoted to captain after he complained about race discrimination, has filed suit alleging discrimination and retaliation. Jeffrey Croslen filed suit in US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia against City of Savannah and Fire Chief Elzie Kitchen.

A Denver firefighter has filed suit against the city claiming he was required to work more than 40 hours per week while attending the 18-week fire academy, and not compensated for those extra hours. Shane Walters filed the FLSA lawsuit in US District Court for the District of Colorado as a class action.

An EMS trainer is suing Dallas Fire Rescue and two individuals alleging copyright infringement for copying and sharing his training materials. Jon Puryear EMS CE, LLC filed suit in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The Appellate Division of NJ Superior Court has upheld a decision by the NJ Civil Service Commission ordering that a recruit for the Jersey City Fire Department be reinstated and admitted to another fire academy. Mina Ekladious washed out of the Morris County Fire Academy in 2019.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for July 15, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss a disciplinary investigation into a Kentucky firefighter caught hanging out of the window of a moving Cadillac while wearing a department t-shirt; the dismissal of a contentious lawsuit involving several New Haven chiefs; the settlement of a Fourth Amendment locker ...

A Kentucky firefighter has been placed on administrative leave as his fire department investigates a social media post containing a photo of him hanging out of a moving car window while wearing a department shirt. The Clay City Fire Department reportedly became aware of the incident by a Facebook post.

A contentious lawsuit brought by a former assistant chief in New Haven, Connecticut against several other chief officers has finally come to a conclusion. Orlando Marcano, who was the Assistant Chief of Administration, filed suit in 2019 naming Fire Chief John Alston, Assistant Chief of Operations Mark Vendetto, IAFF Local 825 Union President Frank Ricci, and an administrative assistant, Cherlyn Poindexter.

The City of Pawtucket has agreed to pay five city firefighters $1,000 each for unlawfully searching their firehouse lockers. Firefighters Noah LeBlanc, Stephen Garlick, Manuel Benevides, Scott McDonald, and Steven Como filed suit last December alleging a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.

Maui County is currently contemplating settling the claims of over 2,000 parties who collectively filed 449 separate lawsuits into last year’s devastating wildland fire. Pending before Maui’s County Council is a resolution regarding Mayor Richard Bissen’s request for a “global settlement of all wildfire litigation against the county.” Here is our earlier coverage: Maui County ...

The sensational lawsuit by Rochester firefighter Jerrod Jones has been settled for $150,000, or $521,000, depending on your perspective. Jones claimed he was the victim of race discrimination that culminated in a white captain ordering him to attend a racist party in 2022 while on-duty.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for July 8, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss an FLSA overtime suit filed by firefighters in Morgantown, West Virginia; an FLSA suit filed by Virginia EMTs who claims the county improperly paid them as if they were firefighters; the dismissal of a Chicago firefighter’s discrimination claims; a decision ...

Fifty-six firefighters with the Morgantown Fire Department have filed two suits claiming the city has not been paying them properly for overtime. One suit was filed in US District Court for the District of West Virginia and the other in Monongalia Circuit Court.

Twelve current and former members of the Page County Fire & EMS have filed a class action lawsuit claiming they were not compensated for all of the hours they worked, and not paid overtime as required by the FLSA. The suit alleges the plaintiffs are non-fire EMS personnel who the county treated as §207k qualifying firefighters.

The discrimination claims brought by a Chicago firefighter have been dismissed, but the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois will allow her claims of retaliation to proceed. Lee Ann McKay filed suit against the city, the retirement board and five individual officers in 2021.