Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone

A district chief with the Orlando Fire Department is suing alleging the city discriminated against her on account of a disability and her gender. District Chief Alissa Baussan, who identifies herself in the complaint as an African American/Black woman, claims ...

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The New Hampshire Supreme Court has reversed a decision by the state Public Employee Labor Relations Board that found that police officers and firefighters in the Town of Barnstead share a sufficient community of interest that would warrant them being allowed in the same collective bargaining unit.

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The wife of a man who died of an overdose in 2022 has filed suit against the city of Inkster, claiming police and firefighters failed to render appropriate aid to her husband. Kimani Wesley filed suit in Wayne County Circuit Court alleging civil rights violations, wrongful death, and gross negligence.

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A community risk reduction specialist with the Meridian Fire Department has filed suit claiming she was disciplined and later terminated in retaliation for raising concerns about the accuracy of data being used for a standard of cover analysis. Heather Griffin filed suit last year against the city in Ada County District Court.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for March 24, 2025, Brad and Curt discuss a federal lawsuit filed by a Charleston firefighter over a transfer, a wrongful death lawsuit against the Philadelphia Fire Department, the settlement of discrimination complaints ...

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A Charleston firefighter who was transferred after he complained to his union about unsafe station conditions, has filed suit along with IAFF Local 61 alleging the discipline violated the First Amendment

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The estate of a Philadelphia man has filed suit against the city claiming that when he called for EMS, medics merely knocked at his door and departed while he lay dying on the floor. Roberto Santiago Sr., died on April 24, 2024, after activating a medical device requesting EMS to respond to his home.

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The New York State Division of Human Rights has announced the settlement of discrimination complaints against three fire departments, the Brookhaven Fire District and Fire Department, the Levittown Fire District and Fire Department, and the Holbrook Fire District and Volunteer Department. The complaints go back several years, but the settlements were announced earlier this week.

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The Appellate Division of the NY Supreme Court has upheld a decision by the NY City Board of Collective Bargaining concluding that the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of IAFF Local 94, was not grievable as it related to the placement of non-compliant members on leave without pay. Local 94 sought to grieve the city’s implementation of the vaccine mandate.

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A US Magistrate judge has recommended that a second lawsuit filed by a Houston firefighter challenging a Title VII consent decree on promotions, be dismissed. Guadalupe Guzman filed the action pro se in 2024 following the dismissal of a suit he filed in 2022 (referred to as Guzman I).

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for March 17, 2025, Brad and Curt discuss the discipline handed down to four Evanston, Illinois firefighters who donned Trump masks for a firehouse photo; a bizarre case involving a Utah fire chief ...

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Four Evanston, Illinois firefighters have been disciplined in the aftermath of a firehouse photo depicting them wearing Trump masks in January. The photo was reportedly taken on inauguration day, January 20, 2025, at Station 3 and circulated in social media with the comment “Our Fire Department all celebrating the inauguration in matching Trump masks.”

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A Utah fire chief is facing criminal charges of sexually exploiting children in a bizarre case that also involves a state court judge. Tremonton Fire Chief Ned Brady Hansen, and 1st District Justice Court Judge Kevin Robert Christensen are facing multiple felony counts.

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A Los Angeles firefighter has filed suit against the city and a captain alleging he was sexually harassed and then retaliated against after he complained. Omar Rodriguez filed suit against the city and Captain George Yllescas alleging five state law claims.

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