Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
The president of the Johnson City Firefighter’s Local 921 has filed suit against the village over his demotion last May. Marty Meaney was demoted from captain to firefighter allegedly because he made false statements to a police detective. The detective was investigating complaints about someone tampering with Meaney’s PPE.
Fire Chief Stephen Hrustich reported that Meaney told him in March 2010 that his breathing equipment had been tampered with, but Meaney denied it when questioned by the detective. Meany claims he answered the detectives questions honestly, and should not have been demoted.
Perhaps the bigger story is the volume of litigation coming out of Johnson City in the past two years. I count six civil suits and an unfair labor practice charge filed since 2009 – involving the department and I’m not sure I have captured all the litigation. That’s a lot for a relatively small department with two stations. Its hard to make progress when you spend all day in court (that goes for fire chiefs or union officials). Small departments do not have extra administrative staff to keep things running smoothly while the chief is tied up!!!
