Fire Law Blog

Two North Carolina firefighters have filed suit claiming they were the victims of a hostile work environment, age discrimination, and retaliation after they complained. Thomas Rumley and Robert Patterson filed separate suits against the City of Graham, Fire Chief Tommy Cole, Captain Jason Moore and City Manager Megan Garner.

The San Bernardino County Fire Department is being sued by an environmental contractor over the presence of PCBs in the department’s waste oil. The suit was brought in San Bernardino County Superior Court by Asbury Environmental Services doing business as World Oil Environmental Services.

A Georgia fire chief who was terminated last month for allegedly bullying and disrespecting city officials, is claiming that he was actually fired for speaking up about staffing and budgeting concerns. Former Tybee Island Fire Chief Ronald Kendrick spoke with WJCL 22 News, denying the city’s stated reasons for his removal.

The City of Nashville has been ordered by a federal court jury to pay a deputy fire marshal $250,000 plus attorneys fees. Maggie Lawrence claimed she was the victim of gender, race and age discrimination when she was passed over for promotion to fire marshal in 2022.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for May 13, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss an Ohio lawsuit  alleging gender, disability and pregnancy discrimination following the denial of a light-duty assignment;  a criminal case from Canada resulting from an altercation precipitated by an argument over washing-dishes; a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit in Virginia filed ...

An Ohio firefighter is suing her department alleging gender, disability and pregnancy discrimination following the denial of her request for a light-duty assignment. Melissa Holland filed suit against Washington Township claiming the fire department’s decision to limit light-duty assignments to job-related injuries is unlawful.

A criminal case is underway in Ottawa, Canada over a 2022 firehouse altercation precipitated by – of all things – an argument over washing-dishes. Firefighter Eric Einagel is accused of assaulting a rookie firefighter, Ash Weaver.

The Lynchburg Fire Department has prevailed in a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by a former female firefighter. Master Firefighter Mary Lynn Shumate brought the suit claiming that she was demoted in 2022 in retaliation for filing a complaint alleging a hostile work environment and bullying.

A former Massachusetts firefighter who secretly video recorded female colleagues in the firehouse, has been sentenced to eight months in prison followed by two years of probation. Nicholas Tillman, 39, pled guilty to seven counts related to the 2022 discovery of cameras in an Easthampton Fire Department firehouse.

The Washington Court of Appeals has ruled against a former firefighter who was seeking workers compensation benefits for PTSD. Frank Shaw served as a firefighter-paramedic from 1989 to 2007 with Kittitas Valley Fire & Rescue, an entity that ultimately became Kittitas County Fire and Rescue.

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for May 6, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss a suit filed by the families of three Baltimore firefighters killed in a building fire; a pink collar theft case in Pennsylvania; a civil action filed against a volunteer fire department and several firefighters alleging they conspired with police to ...

A federal magistrate judge has recommended that a lawsuit brought by a terminated IAFF union president, proceed although the fire chief should be dismissed from the case. The suit was brought by Michael Teague, who was terminated last year by the Pedernales Fire Department (Travis County ESD 8).

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 complainant. Answer: The general rule is that neither the victim nor the complainant to an alleged disciplinary infraction should be assigned to investigate a disciplinary complaint.

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 deaths. Lieutenant Paul Butrim, FF Kenneth Lacayo, and FF Kelsey Sadler were killed, and FF John McMaster was seriously injured in the January 24, 2022.

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 theft by unlawful taking following a lengthy investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police.

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 rights violations, has been removed to the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Steven Makowsky filed suit earlier this year in Nassau County Supreme Court.

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 causing a triple fatal apparatus crash; the filing of a lawsuit by a New Hampshire firefighter who claims he was sexually ...

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 suspension without pay. Dominic Biscari was driving Kansas City’s Pumper 19, when it ran a red light, collided with an SUV, struck several parked cars, came to rest in a building, and in the process killed three people.

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 collective bargaining unit. The case involved a challenge brought by the Borough of Carteret seeking to separate lieutenants from the rank-and-file firefighters.

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. Yasmine Estrella was ranked fourth on the Brockton Fire Department’s hiring list established in 2021.