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The DeKalb County Fire Rescue released the report on why the initial crews dispatched to a reported house fire just after 1:00am on January 24, 2010, failed to find the fire, and returned in service. Crews were sent again to the same address at 6:18 am, and found the house well involved. One person died in the fire.
To download the report: Download DeKalb Fire Investigation Report N Houghton Court
To see the video report on the incident CLICK HERE.
Posted in Disciplinary Action, General legal issues
An unfortunate decision by the fire chief of Tarpon Springs, Florida, to respond to a fire after attending a social function has landed him in hot water with his bosses. Chief Stephen Moreno was placed on administrative leave after he admitted to the city officials that he had been drinking prior to responding to a fatal fire on January 14, 2010. Chief Moreno, who apologized for his lapse in judgment, has led the department since 2005.
Firefighters from Tarpon Springs were assisted by personnel from East Lake, Palm Harbor, Clearwater and Safety Harbor, in battling the fire that killed Dr. Frederick Roever. Moreno reportedly arrived wearing civilian clothes and started issuing orders without assuming command or being assigned an operational role. The fire chief said that he had been attending a social function when the call came reporting a fire, and that some time had passed between the time he imbibed, and the time he responded.
To his credit, Moreno informed City Manager Mark LeCouris and Mayor Beverley Billiris of the lapse in judgment before anyone complained. On hearing this Billiris ordered a full investigation on the incident, and placed Moreno on leave until the whole investigation is over. Afterwards, additional complaints about the chief’s conduct were lodged with the city administration.
Under the IAFC’s Zero Tolerance Alcohol Policy, fire departments are encouraged to adopt a policy that personnel refrain from responding to alarms until at least eight hours after they last consumed an alcoholic beverage.
Download the IAFC Alcohol Policy: Download IAFCpol_Alcohol_inFireEmergServ.
Posted in Disciplinary Action
Ronald Grogan, Fire Chief of Eunice City along with four other firefighters have been charged with various offenses related to the theft of a radar detector from a vehicle that was involved in an accident on December 4, 2009. The New Mexico State Police charged Chief Grogan with burglary as well as two counts of tampering with state’s evidence. The four other firefighters were also charged with tampering with evidence. The Mayor of Eunice, Matt White, assured the public that the arrests will in no way affect Eunice City’s fire or emergency services.
Eunice City Manager Curtis Schrader confirmed that Fire Chief Ron Grogan was indeed terminated from his position as of Tuesday, December 29. He went on to state that two of the four firefighters were employees of the city, and were suspended for 30 days without pay, and will be on probation upon their return. Chief Grogan had also been the subject of a department of health investigation stemming from a March, 2009 incident where he was alleged to have inappropriately touched the breasts of a patient. His paramedic license was suspended for one year on January 4, 2010.
Posted in Disciplinary Action
Four DeKalb County firefighters are on paid administrative leave following a fatal fire Monday. Questions are being asked about why crews did not find the fire when first called to the scene shortly after 1:00am, and returned several houses later to find the home well involved.
Posted in Disciplinary Action, General legal issues
A “lemon law” for emergency vehicles. When I first saw the headline, my reaction was: why didn’t I think of that? The concept of a lemon law for emergency vehicles is now a reality in New Jersey, believed to be the first state to adopt such a law.
Typical lemon laws cover non-commercial (passenger) vehicles, and require the manufacturers of covered vehicles to replace or buy-back “lemon” vehicles that have experienced either repeated mechanical problems or long periods of being in the shop. States differ on the specifics of lemon law coverage and conditions. New Jersey’s law applies to a new vehicle that has one or more defects that continue to exist after three repair attempts or after the vehicle has been out of service for a total of 20 days, during the first two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first. New Jersey’s previous “Lemon Law” exempted emergency vehicles from coverage.
The new law was originally introduced in the New Jersey legislature in 2008 after an ambulance purchased by the Flanders Fire Department and Rescue Squad in Mount Olive Township, encountered persistent problems with its drive train, leading to long periods in the shop. Working with legislators, emergency responders across the state rallied the necessary support, and the bill was signed into law by Gov. Jon Corzine on January 19, 2010. The bill covers fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and other emergency vehicles. It includes a provision requiring manufacturers to cover the cost of rental vehicles for vehicles that are out of service for a covered lemon law “nonconformity” (problem).
Congratulations to everyone involved in this effort.
Download NJ Lemon Law Emerg Vehicles
Posted in General legal issues, Product Liability
Law school professors are notorious for coming up with strange fact patterns to use on final exams. However, I find that real life in the fire service can top even the best hypothetic questions a law school professor can dream up.
Take the law suit filed by the La Marque (Texas) Firefighters union last week against the city of La Marque, and Mayor Pro Tem Keith Bell. Sounds pretty typical so far, right? There aren’t many places I am aware of that a suit between the firefighters and the city could be considered unusual. The interesting thing is that Mayor Pro Tem Bell is a firefighter in Galveston. One would think that, in and of itself, would be a good thing, right? I mean, isn’t it every firefighter’s dream to have a politician who “get’s it”, who knows what it’s like to be a firefighter, slogging it out day after day in the danger zone?
To understand the story – and get to the rest of the crazy law school exam worthy fact pattern – we have to go back to last summer (August 10th to be exact), when Bell was supposed to be at work in Galveston, but instead got someone to substitute for him so he could attend a contentious council meeting in La Marque. As the newspaper reported it, Bell was quite vocal at the meeting about a number of fire department issues including the high cost of a new apparatus, the number of firefighters off on injury leave, and the need for “a review of the fire department budget to make sure spending was in control.” The newspaper even quoted him as saying: “Those guys are trying to rob the city of La Marque.” So much for a brother union member. Oh yes, one more detail, Bell was wearing his Galveston uniform shirt at the time.
Posted in Civil Suit, Disciplinary Action, Discrimination, Labor Law, Municipal Liability
Ok, so maybe it was not a hammer that dropped, it was a gavel, but the metaphor is clearly there: something big happened in the Big Apple on January 21, 2010.
Just one week after Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis determined FDNY had intentionally discriminated against minorities in the 1999 and 2002 hiring processes, he ordered the remedy… and it will no doubt be a bitter pill for many to swallow: for every five firefighters the department hires, two must be black and one must be Hispanic. The remedy will last at least until 293 identified minority applicants are hired, and those applicants will be entitled to retroactive seniority.
In addition, the court is ordering the department to develop a new non-discriminatory hiring process, and compensate roughly 7,400 minority applicants who took the 1999 and 2002 tests in question.
The judge declined to order a formal hiring quota that had been sought by the Vulcan Society, a fraternal organization of black firefighters who joined the suit along with the United States and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).
By various accounts, FDNY is between 91-93% white male and the long-standing disparity in pass rates between white and minority applicants have resulted in two determinations of disparate impact discrimination (in 1972 and again in July, 2009), and a precedent setting finding of disparate treatment (intentional) discrimination by Judge Garaufis on January 13, 2010.
An appeal would appear to be imminent.
Posted in Civil Suit, Discrimination
Four more suits have been filed in the aftermath of the Sofa Super Store fire in Charleston, SC on behalf of four Charleston firefighters who fought the June 18, 2007 blaze. The firefighters claim that they have experienced post traumatic stress, depression, and other ailments as a direct result of the negligence of the Sofa Super Store, Inc., the Goldstein Family Limited Partnership, Dupont Performance Elastomers, Feltmann & Associates Inc., Conklin Company, Robinson & Robinson Furniture, Motion-Eaze Recliners, Overnight Sofa Corp., Primo International, Miller Concrete, the Pembrook Chair Corp., and Albany Industries.
The four lawsuits are in addition to at least six prior suits filed against the defendants by firefighters or their estates/families as a result of the Sofa Super Store fire. The four plaintiffs, Matthew Roberts, Gary Taylor, Eric Croft, and Edward Jones III, are seeking punitive damages in addition to compensation for their actual damages. The cases were filed in the Court of Common Pleas for Charleston County.
The complaint alleges that the defendants were responsible for illegal modifications to the building, the use and installation of highly flammable roofing and ceiling components, and the presence of "unreasonably dangerous and highly flammable" materials in the building.
Posted in Civil Suit
Todays burning question: Can a volunteer firefighter be disciplined for publically supporting a petition NOT to lay off two career firefighters. There’s an interesting case developing in Monroe Township, New Jersey involving the six-month suspension of a deputy chief for circulating a petition concerning the possible elimination of the fire company’s two paid firefighters.
Fire Chief Lonnie Pipero suspended Deputy Chief Scott Kivet from the Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 for six months, charging that he used his title and position in a way that could imply the fire company endorsed the petition to maintain two paid firefighters. Chief Kivet claims he was circulating the petition as a concerned citizen and not in his role as deputy chief. The petition was circulated after a December 29, 2009 meeting of the Fire Commissioners where firefighters were told the two paid positions could be eliminated.
Kivet, a police officer in Robbinsville, claims the suspension violates his First Amendment rights, and plans to appeal. The First Amendment provides broad protection to openly discuss matters of public concern without fear of retaliation by governmental actors. The key to triggering the protection is to speak as a private citizen on a matter of public concern. If the deputy chief was indeed acting as a private citizen, and the fire chief is deemed to be a public official (state actor), the First Amendment argument will likely prevail over the discipline. Several ifs….. On the other hand a six month suspension is kind of hard to ignore.
Posted in Burning Question, Disciplinary Action, Volunteers
A major decision in the FDNY race discrimination hiring case was delivered yesterday, January 13, 2010, and it’s impact is only now starting to sink in. In a 70 page ruling, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis lambasted FDNY for ignoring statistical imbalance numbers for years, and continuing to use hiring policies and procedures that resulted in a workforce that was approximately 93% white male.
The lawsuit, filed in May, 2007, challenged two examinations administered in February, 1999 and December, 2002, as part of the hiring process. In July, 2009, Judge Garaufis ruled that the examinations were discriminatory under the disparate impact theory. The ruling yesterday was important because FDNY was also being accused of deliberate, purposeful discrimination. There are two basic types of discrimination, disparate treatment and disparate impact.
Disparate treatment is the most easily understood type of discrimination, but often the hardest to prove. It occurs when someone acts intentionally and deliberately to discriminate. For example, an employer who refuses to accept an application from a black applicant, or who purposefully destroys an application once filed, would be guilty of disparate treatment. Usually, disparate treatment cases are few and far between these days.
Disparate impact occurs when despite the fact that there is no clear evidence of intent to discriminate, a statistical imbalance exists that is evidence that some neutral appearing factor must be causing the imbalance, and thereby results in unlawful discrimination. The July, 2009 ruling determined that the 1999 and 2002 examinations had a discriminatory impact. The ruling yesterday was nothing short of historic in so far as it concluded that the continued use of such tests despite a longstanding knowledge that they had a disparate impact, constituted disparate treatment. In other words, the judge ruled that FDNY purposefully discriminated against minorities.
Posted in Civil Suit, Discrimination
The jury came back in the vehicular homicide case of Pennsylvania EMT Jason Fait today, and the verdict was not guilty. Fait was charged after an October 30, 2006 accident involving a Penn Township ambulance that he was driving claimed the life of Frank Scalise Jr., a county prison guard who was on his way to work.
The accident occurred when the ambulance proceeded through a red traffic light between 5:30 am and 6:00 am while returning from a hospital. The major point of contention in the case was Fait’s state of mind at the time of the crash. Vehicular homicide requires a mental state of either recklessness or gross negligence. The defense contended at worst, Fait was negligent. State of mind is a question of fact for the jury to decide.
What makes this case unusual is that the ambulance had an on-board camera that documented the crash. The video showed that the Fait was engaged in a conversation with his partner, and was not paying attention to the light. However, it also showed he was not speeding, driving erratically, nor was he distracted. Evident in the video were two traffic lights that were green in the intersections beyond the accident site.
While the jury may not be in on whether or not cameras on emergency vehicles is advisable – in this case it did provide objective and truthful evidence, and in the end that evidence led the jury to find Fait not guilty on the serious charge of vehicular homicide. Fait was convicted of careless driving and failure to obey a traffic control device.
Posted in Apparatus, Criminal Law, EMS, Manslaughter
Two Pasco County, FL firefighters have filed a race, ethnicity and religious discrimination suit against the county and the firefighter’s union. The lawsuit accuses a Pasco Fire Rescue Captain of using racial slurs against two employees, Anthony Booth and Jerry Brown. Booth is a firefighter/EMT, who is Hispanic and of Venezuelan-Spanish descent, and the Brown is a driver/engineer, whose wife's family is Jewish.
The suit was originally filed in November in state court, and removed to Federal Court on December 29, 2009. It alleges that Captain Mark Bodden repeatedly harassed Booth, who worked for him at Station 14, using racially and ethnically derogatory terms as well as shouting “vulgar words” and profanity at him, sometimes even in public. The suit also claims that Brown was often subjected to derogatory terms about his race, and subjected to anti-semetic language. In addition, Brown claims he was wrongfully denied leave to attend to family matters when his sister died.
The suit alleges that Bodden has been disciplined previously in the form of a written reprimand, anger management training, and cultural awareness classes, among other measures. County personnel director Barbara DeSimone acknowledged that Bodden was disciplined by the county for his conduct toward Booth and Brown, but claimed it was not on account of harassment, and said the county did not violate anyones’s civil rights.
Booth and Brown included the union in the lawsuit because they allege that when they took their complaints to the union, they were turned away. Federal employment law permits employees to sue their union when the union discriminates against them, including when the union fails to intervene on their behalf.
Posted in Civil Suit, Discrimination
A very interesting case was decided on January 5, 2010 involving the Bridgeport, Connecticut Fire Department. In May of 2007, the city acquired new vehicles for city fire inspectors, and installed GPS devices in order to electronically monitor the movement and location of the vehicles while they were in use. The city monitored the inspectors’ activities using the GPS devices and brought disciplinary actions against inspectors Frank Gerardi and Stephen Vitka.
Gerardi and Vitka filed suit against the city alleging it had violated Connecticut General Statutes § 31-48d which prohibits employers from electronically monitoring employees without prior notice to the employee. They sought temporary and permanent injunctive relief and damages.
Posted in Civil Suit, Disciplinary Action, Evidence
There are many reasons why the fire service has such a strong connection to the law, but a recent story out of South Carolina brought that connection home to me once again in a way I had not expected. In Beaufort, they have been having a difficult time enforcing their nuisance codes which govern things like overgrown grass and shrubs, trash and other safety and health violations.
Beginning Monday, January 11, 2010, the Beaufort Fire department will take over enforcement responsibility for the nuisance code. What at first blush may seem like a strange assignment actually has a pretty logical basis. First of all, overgrown lots, accumulations of rubbish, and abandoned automobiles pose fire hazards. Second, many of the residents responsible for these lots do not have the physical ability to do anything about it, nor the financial way with all to hire someone to help them or pay the fines.
After the announcement, city comptroller Mack Cook was quoted in the local paper as saying "These (firefighters) are the guys with the muscles who will help residents remove trash and hazards. They would rather do that now than come back and put out a fire later." Fire marshal Lt. Daniel Byrne concurred with Cook’s comments, saying the department preferred to correct violations, not focus on writing tickets and collecting fines.
In this time of economic hardship, keeping firefighters employed and productive in novel ways makes a lot more sense than layoffs and closing fire stations. It may mean less time for training and inspections, but the big picture is that these firefighters will still be there when an alarm comes in.
Posted in General legal issues
If you are like me, you are tired of the internet hoax emails claiming such rubbish as "in 1987 Oliver North testified before Congress that Osama bin Laden was the most evil person alive”, or that "cut flowers can remove oxygen from the air". But every once in a while you get a spam email that is legit, and I got one today relative to a scam involving jury duty.
The scam goes something like this: You receive a call from someone claiming to be a jury commissioner who says you were told to report for jury duty, that you did not appear, and that an arrest warrant has been issued for you. When you complain that you did not receive any notice, the caller makes an effort to appear helpful and asks you to confirm your Social Security Number and birth date to verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Once you provide this information, your identity has been stolen.
According to Snopes.com, this scam is not new, but it is real. The scammers sometimes use bullying tactics to get people to divulge information. It is something that is definitely worth passing on to friends and family.
http://www.snopes.com/fraud/identity/juryduty.asp
Posted in General legal issues
Over the past few months, I have written twice about the Westbrook, Maine Fire Department, and the difficulty they seem to be having in addressing allegations of sexual harassment. Now comes word that the newly elected mayor has decided to replace the fire chief.
Westbrook Mayor Colleen Hilton, announced during her inauguration speech on January 4, 2010, that she would not be reappointing Fire Chief Daniel Brock. Her decision effectively fires the chief, and the Mayor immediately appointed the police chief to serve as acting fire chief. Chief Brock, who came to Westbrook from the outside, had only been appointed a year ago. He is not the first casualty of the cultural problems within the department. Sexual harassment allegations date back fifteen years, and led to the ouster of Chief Gary Littlefield in 2008.
Hopefully the mayor is interested in doing more than leveraging the public's frustration with the status quo by playing musical chairs with her fire chief. That kind of superficial reorganization followed by the appointment of a politically loyal chief can only contribute to long term cultural problems remaining long term cultural problems. As the linked article indicates, she is talking a good game, including bringing in outside consultants and looking into regionalization. But the root issues need to be addressed in the interim, not ignored or postponed.
Posted in Sexual Harassment
The Los Angeles Daily News reported on Monday, that the Los Angeles County Claims Board was meeting to consider settling two Los Angeles County Fire Department lawsuits arising out of sexual harassment that occurred in 2003. Reportedly, Mary Villegas, who was assigned to the department’s hazardous materials facility in Sylmar, was harassed by two inspectors and a supervisor. Milton Molina, a fire inspector, observed what he referred to as repeated acts of sexual harassment, taunting and a sexually hostile work environment directed toward Villegas, and stood up for her. Molina claims that afterwards he was retaliated against.
In separate lawsuits, Villegas and Molina sued the County, Villegas alleging sexual harassment and Molina alleging retaliation. The Daily News is quoting court documents as putting the Molina settlement at $150,000 and the Villegas settlement at $325,000.
Posted in Civil Suit, Sexual Harassment
The families of three young women killed in a fire at the Willows of Coventry apartment complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana on January 23, 2009, are now suing the owners of the property, alleging they failed to provide a reasonably safe place to live. The three women, Lara Punches, Jennifer Spurgeon and Renea Patton, were students at International Business College.
Named as defendants in the suit were Dial Equities, the owner of the Willows at the time of the fire, and Bradford Schools, who operates International Business College. The school, located adjacent to the apartment complex, rented entire apartment buildings from Dial Equities to use as student housing. All residents of the building at the time of the fire were students. Among the specific allegations of negligence are the failure to provide operating smoke detectors in every bedroom and the main living area, the failure to maintain properly functioning and safe electrical outlets, and the failure to provide an evacuation plan. The suit was filed in Indiana Superior Court, and total damages were not specified. The fire officials say the fire started at or near an electrical outlet.
A key aspect of this case will be the nexus between the school and the property owners. The fire code issues associated with a college dormitory are significantly stricter than they are for a residential apartment building. If the rental arrangements were truly an arms length transaction between Dial Equities and Branford Schools, the duty of Branford to the students would be more difficult to prove. However, if the nexus is indeed less than arms length, the school would be directly in the plaintiffs’ cross hairs.
Here is a video about the lawsuit.
Here is additional information.
Download Willows Complaint. For you legal eagles out there…. notice anything unusual in the list of defendants????
Posted in Civil Suit, Negligence
On December 23, 2009, a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey, dismissed internal administrative charges against three Atlantic City firefighters who were suspended in the aftermath of a sensationalized case, the likes of which brought in such headliners as Reverend Al Sharpton.
The case arose in September, 2009 when four teenage black girls alleged that a white firefighter lured them into a fire station and committed lewd acts in May of 2009. The girls filed a lawsuit against the firefighter and the Atlantic City Fire Department prompting a public outcry for justice. In a rush to respond to the public uproar, the Mayor of Atlantic City, Lorenzo Langford, promised that “heads will roll”.
Meanwhile, the firefighter at the center of the controversy vehemently denies the accusations and claims he was not even on duty the day the girls allege the incident occurred. Nevertheless, Firefighter Richard Williams, along with two captains and a firefighter were suspended after the story broke on September 16, 2009.
Posted in Disciplinary Action, Discrimination, Sexual Harassment
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