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Suit Seeks to Block New Haven Fire’s Planned Lottery
A New Haven fire lieutenant along with thirty firefighter-candidates have filed suit to block the city’s plans to use a lottery to break a tie between 99 applicants who scored 100 on a civil service hiring test. With Lieutenant Samod Rankins serving as the lead plaintiff, the suit was filed today in New Haven Superior Court.
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VLOG: Burn Litigation and the Firefighter’s Rule
In this episode, Curt and attorney Paul Samakow discuss the Firefighter’s Rule, and in particular the challenges of recovering damages for burn injuries. Paul is a nationally known advocate for burn survivors and their families. He has a national practice representing burn survivors.
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Mother of CHOP Shooting Victim Sues Seattle
The mother of a 19-year-old special needs man who was shot in the Seattle CHOP zone last summer, has filed suit against the city of Seattle claiming that medics failure to come to his aid led to his death. Donnitta Sinclair filed suit last week in federal court claiming the intentional and negligent conduct of the city caused the death of her son, Horace Lorenzo Anderson, Jr.
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Burning Question: Volunteers and the FLSA for Fire Departments Conference
Today’s burning question: I am a volunteer fire chief and have been very interested in taking your FLSA course May 11-14, 2021. Is there any way to just take the section related to volunteer issues at a reduced rate? The other sections are interesting but are not the focus of what I need to know.
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California Battalion Chief Sues Claiming Entitlement to Overtime
A battalion chief with the City of Coronado has filed suit claiming he and similarly situated battalion chiefs have been wrongly classified as exempt from overtime. Perry Peake filed the class action suit this week in US District Court for the Southern District of California.
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Wrongful Death Suit Over California Wildland Air Drop To Continue
A lawsuit filed by the family of a Utah battalion chief killed when a Very Large Air Tanker (VLOT) dropped 19,600 gallons of fire retardant on his position while operating at the Mendocino Complex Fire in California in 2018, will continue following a ruling by a US District Court judge.
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Massachusetts SJC Upholds Reinstatement of Brookline Firefighter
The ongoing saga of Brookline firefighter Gerald Alston took another step toward closure with the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts upholding a decision by the Massachusetts Civil Service Commission to order his reinstatement to the fire department.
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Insubordination As A Disciplinary Charge
Today’s burning question: What is "insubordination"? I am so tired of people trying to make fire departments into paramilitary organizations. We are not the military, it’s a vocation. Insubordination has no place in the fire service as a basis for discipline. Answer: While you are correct that fire departments in the US are not part of the military, the term paramilitary has several definitions.
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SF Fire Department Paramedic Alleges Gender, Pregnancy and Lactation Discrimination
A paramedic captain with the San Francisco Fire Department has filed an 18-count complaint in federal court alleging an assortment of gender, pregnancy, and lactation-based claims. Sarah Perata filed suit last week in US District Court for the Northern District of California.
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Missouri Supreme Court Upholds Law Mandating City to Pay Fire Protection District
The Supreme Court of Missouri has upheld a state law requiring cities that annex property in a fire protection district to pay the district “what the district would have collected in tax revenue within the annexed area.” The case involved a challenge brought by the City of Crestwood against the Affton Fire Protection District.
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KCK Firefighter Awarded $2.4 Million For Race Discrimination
A Kansas City, Kansas firefighter who was suspended without pay in 2016 for working a second job while on sick leave, has been awarded $2.4 million in damages for race discrimination. Jyan Harris claims the department discriminated against him because he is African American.
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Bridgeport Firefighter Loses Third Bid To Reverse Termination
A Bridgeport, Connecticut firefighter who was terminated in 2012 following his arrest for insurance fraud, has lost a third lawsuit alleging that he was wrongful terminated. James Jackson was accused of falsely reporting that several thousand dollars worth of personal items had been stolen in a burglary in order to collect from his insurer.
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PA Chief Pleads Guilty to Theft
A former Pennsylvania fire chief who embezzled more than $84,000 over a seven-year period from his fire volunteer department, has pled guilty. Adam Kauer, 39, had been the fire chief of the East Carnegie Volunteer Fire Department from 2012 to 2019.
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