Jury Awards Former Florida Chief $500,000

A jury in St. Johns County, Florida returned a verdict in favor of former Fire Chief Scott Bullard, awarding him $500,000 after finding that the county breached his contract rights. Chief Bullard claimed that he was forced to resign from his position as fire chief for St. Johns County in October 2023.

 At the time of his resignation, Chief Bullard stated in his letter: “I am forced to resign from this position, having done nothing to cause detriment to the fire department of the county.”

After submitting his resignation, Chief Bullard requested to revert to his former position (reported in news coverage as a battalion chief), but that request was denied by the county.

The county advanced two grounds for Chief Bullard’s removal. Quoting from the St. John’s Citizen, “the county said Bullard wrongfully ended the use of vacation time after sick time ran out and opted for unsafe uniforms.”

Chief Bullard denied those allegations and contended they were pretextual. He filed suit in November 2023. Here is earlier coverage of the case.

The three-day jury trial ended on October 23, 2025 with the jury awarding Chief Bullard $500,000 in damages. The jury found that St. Johns County violated a collective bargaining agreement by denying Chief Bullard the opportunity to return to his former post, and that he suffered financially as a result of that denial.

After the verdict, Bullard commented:

“It was a great milestone. We’re not done with this yet, but today was very vindicating.”