Washington State FD Settles Sex Discrimination Claims for $600k
A Washington state firefighter has agreed to settle two sexual discrimination lawsuits she filed against her fire department and several officers for $600,000. Andra Thompson claims that she had been subjected to a hostile work environment, sex discrimination, and retaliation during her 11 years with the Kennewick Fire Department.
Read More »CT Firefighter Sues Apparatus Driver and Fire Department For Injuries
A Connecticut firefighter whose foot was run over and crushed by an engine at the scene of a house fire last year, is suing his fire department and the driver for his injuries. Christopher Ziemba, a member of the Durham Volunteer Fire Department, was injured on April 23, 2014 at the scene of a house fire in Durham, Connecticut.
Read More »Charleston Firefighters Prevail in Overtime Dispute
The US District Court for the District of South Carolina handed down a ruling today finding that the City of Charleston violated the Fair Labor Standards Act in the manner in which it compensated its firefighters for overtime. The class action suit was filed by six Charleston firefighters in 2013 who alleged a variety of FLSA violations.
Read More »LODD Widow Claims Georgia Fire Chief Responsible for Wrongful Death
The widow of a firefighter killed in a collapse at a house fire in Waycross, Georgia in 2013, claims the fire chief and the building’s owner are responsible her husband’s wrongful death. Diane Little, the widow of Fire Lieutenant David Jeffrey Little, filed the lawsuit last week in Ware County state court naming the City of Waycross, Fire Chief David E. Eddins, and Ruben Guinovart as defendants
Read More »Facebook Claims Another Victim
A Michigan chief is fighting to get his job back after an online argument on Facebook led to an investigation and his termination. Assistant Chief Michael Head of the Harper Woods Fire Department was fired following revelation of the comments ...
Read More »Firefighter Shoots Station Commander
A South African firefighter has been accused of shooting and killing his station commander. Platoon Commander Lesedi Mphatswe of the Johannesburg Emergency Services Management, was shot and killed at the home of a firefighter as he was delivering a disciplinary summons. Commander Mphatswe was a 20 year veteran.
Read More »Nebraska Suit Over Low Interest Loan to Ambulance Service Dismissed
A lawsuit to block a Nebraska city from providing a $350,000 low-interest loan to a new ambulance service owned by two people with ties to the city’s fire department has been dismissed. The North Platte City Council approved the loan to Priority Medical Transport, owned by Assistant Fire Chief Trent Kleinow, and Dr. James Smith, the fire department’s medical director.
Read More »FDNY Firefighter Seeks Reinstatement
An FDNY firefighter who resigned in 2013 after failing a random drug test is suing to get his job back, and he is citing the city’s reinstatement of a fire commissioner’s son as precedence. Glen Merkitch filed suit yesterday in Brooklyn requesting that the Kings County Supreme Court order his reinstatement. The complaint references the reinstatement of Joseph Cassano to the EMS division earlier this year
Read More »NJ Township Settles Sexual Harassment Suit for $30k
A New Jersey township has agreed to pay $30,000 to a female employee to settle her claims that the fire chief “smacked” her on her “rear end”. Lorie Cutts, an administrative assistant for the Medford Township Fire Department, claimed that Fire Chief Thomas Thorn smacked her on her bottom in front of 2 other firefighters.
Read More »DC Finally Settles Decades Old Overtime Suit for $45 million
A contentious overtime battle in the Nation’s Capital that goes back to the 1990s has finally been settled… this time for real!!! Last January DC agreed to settle a suit brought by firefighters over the payment of overtime for $47 million. However, it wasn’t until yesterday that the parties finally worked out all the details and signed the agreement bringing the matter to an end.
Read More »Should Additional Hours Be Paid as Overtime or Straight Time
Today’s burning question: Our attorney is claiming we are wrong to pay overtime to firefighters unless they physically work 212 hours in a 28-day period. We have always paid overtime to our personnel for all hours over and above a firefighter’s assigned work schedule. Is he right?
Read More »Department Liability For an Unqualified Chief
Today’s burning question: Are there cases out there where a fire department was held liable for not having a qualified chief officer(s)? Our fire board does not seem to care that our chief has no qualifications what-so-ever. Answer: Negligent selection, failure to train, and negligent supervision are very common allegations in law suits. The problem is the implication of the question: is the main reason we want qualified people to serve as chief officers because we are scared of being sued…
Read More »Texas Firefighter Indefinitely Suspended Over Gang Related Activities
A Texas firefighter who was shot last year in a bar fight has been suspended indefinitely following his arrest last May on weapons charges. Last week Waco Fire Chief John Johnston ordered Bill Dudley’s “indefinite suspension” (for those not from Texas… that means he was fired) for “unlawfully carrying a weapon while being a member of an outlaw gang” as well as what was characterized as a “multitude of violations of state law and city policies”.
Read More »NC Chief Arrested for Embezzlement
A North Carolina fire chief has been arrested and charged with embezzling nearly $20,000 from his fire department. Jesse Raymon Hoshall, III was arrested last week by the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office. He was fire chief of the Scotch-Irish Fire Department, located in an unincorporated area in Rowan County called Woodleaf.
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