Today’s burning question: In a disciplinary investigation, can the lead investigator be the complainant on a case? I was under the impression that the investigator should not also be the compla...
The families of three Baltimore firefighters who died in a 2022 building fire have filed suit claiming the city’s failure to catalog and mark structurally compromised buildings caused their dea...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/05/01/lodd-families-sue-baltimore/
The treasurer of a volunteer fire department in Pennsylvania is facing criminal charges for stealing over $90,000 from the department. Patricia Susan Tuttle, 41, has been charged with forgery and...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/30/pink-collar-theft-in-pennsylvania-vfd/
A lawsuit accusing a volunteer fire department, two firefighters, three police officers, and two law enforcement agencies with assault, battery, false arrest, conspiracy, and a host of civil righ...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/29/suit-against-fd-alleges-false-arrest-and-conspiracy/
In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for April 29, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss the appeal of an arbitrator’s decision to reduce the suspension of a Kansas City firefighter to three days for caus...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/29/fire-law-roundup-for-april-29-2023/
The City of Kansas City is appealing an arbitration decision that reduced the disciplinary penalty for the firefighter responsible for the 2021 triple-fatal apparatus crash to a three-day suspens...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/28/kcmo-challenges-arbitration-award-in-triple-fatal-crash/
The Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court has upheld a ruling of the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission concluding that lieutenants can be included with firefighters in a...
The Massachusetts Civil Service Commission has granted the appeal of an applicant for the Brockton Fire Department, concluding that the city did not have proper grounds to bypass her last year. Y...
The US Department of Labor has announced changes to the executive, administrative and professional employees exemption, and more specifically - increases to the minimum salary that must be paid t...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/23/us-dol-announces-increases-to-white-collar-salary-test/
In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for April 23, 2024, Curt reviews a $4.45 million settlement in an EMS restraint-related death in Sacramento; a race discrimination suit in New Jersey; the sett...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/23/fire-law-roundup-for-april-23-2024/
A New Hampshire firefighter who resigned last December after enduring what he claims was years of sexually harassing comments and retaliation is now suing his former employer. Christopher R. Golo...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/22/new-hampshire-firefighter-claims-he-was-sexually-harassed/
The City of Sacramento has agreed to settle a wrongful death suit with the family of a man who died while being restrained during an EMS response, for $4.45 million. Reginald “Reggie” Payne, ...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/21/sacramento-settles-restraint-death-suit-for-4-45-million/
A New Jersey firefighter is suing his department, the fire chief and a firefighter alleging violations of the state’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act due to race discrimination and retali...
The City of Wilmington has agreed to settle an FLSA overtime suit brought last year by six current and former battalion chiefs for $459,695.36. The chiefs claim they were improperly classified as...
The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals has handed down a ruling in favor of FDNY concluding that a trademark owned by an FDNY paramedic in the name of "Medical Special Operations Conference" cann...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/16/fdny-prevails-in-trademark-case-with-medic/
The family of a St. Louis firefighter who died in 2022, has reportedly filed suit against the manufacturer of his SCBA alleging that the failure of his PASS device contributed to his death. Benja...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/15/family-of-st-louis-firefighter-lodd-files-suit/
In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for April 15, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss a pink collar theft case out of North Carolina; a $1.5 billion PFAS-related lawsuit filed in Virginia by firefighters...
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/15/fire-law-roundup-for-april-15-2024/
Six Virginia firefighters and the estate of a deceased firefighter have filed suit against 25 companies associated with per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) seeking $1.5 Billion in damages....
https://www.firelawblog.com/2024/04/14/virginia-firefighters-seek-1-5-billion-from-pfas-companies/
A Rochester firefighter who claims to have been the victim of domestic violence and sexual harassment at work, has filed suit against the City of Rochester. The firefighter, identified as Jane Do...
A Kentucky court has concluded that a fire district board member who served as an adverse witness against an accused firefighter in a disciplinary proceeding, violated the firefighter’s due pro...