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Duty to Act: Needless Drowning in Alameda
A tragic drowning in Alameda California has left the public stunned and the media smelling blood in the water – all because police officers and firefighters stood by and watched. The incident occurred yesterday, and here is the news footage. The headline could just have easily read: Firefighters blame lawyers for downing death – liability concerns too great or Dammed if you do dammed if you don’t – sued by deceased’s family or cited by OSHA, pick your poison How far do we go in the name of safety? One thing is for sure, the government bean counters and tax…
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Volunteer Theft, Suicide, and a Step Toward Justice in Virginia
If you have been following this blog for very long, you know there have been a large number of theft cases in the volunteer service where a high ranking official (treasurer, president or fire chief) steals large sums of money from the organization. None of these cases (and there are over 60 of them since 2008) are as strange and tragic as the one involving Jeffrey Lee Shifflett, the former fire chief of the Hardy Volunteer Fire Co., in Bedford County, Virginia. On July 7, 2009, Shifflett, his wife Deborah, and his adult son Cory were charged with embezzling close…
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West Virginia Paramedic Charged With Striking Patient
A West Virginia paramedic has been fired and charged criminally after allegedly slapping a patient. Paramedic Michael Wears, 37, was fired last week by the Kanawha County Emergency Ambulance Authority following an investigation into the incident, which occurred on May 19, 2011. He was charged by Dunbar Police with battery. The patient was in police custody at the time, and handcuffed in the back of a cruiser. He and Wears alleged got into an altercation leading to the slap. According to police, the patient was intoxicated at the time and the battery occured in the presence of the police officer.
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St. Louis Deputy Chief Prevails in Race Discrimination Suit
A St. Louis Fire Department deputy chief who was passed over for promotion to fire chief in 2007, has won a race discrimination suit against the city. Deputy Chief Charles Coyle claimed that the city discriminated when it promoted a battalion chief, Dennis Jenkerson, to be the fire chief. Chief Coyle is black and Chief Jenkerson is white. The city claimed that the promotion was based on Chief Jenkerson’s higher test scores and the fact he was viewed as a better fit by Public Safety Director Charles Bryson, who is black. However, the St. Louis County jury sided with Chief Coyle…
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Fairfax County Sexual Harassment Double Header
The Fairfax County Fire Department is in the middle of a double-header of sorts, but its no game. The department has been sued in two separate Federal lawsuits by two female firefighters for sexual harassment, and the department has lost the first case at trial. Both suits allege a hostile workplace. The first suit was brought by firefighter Mary Getts Bland, who retired last year. She alleged that Lieutenant Timothy Young harassed her despite her complaints to the department about his conduct. A May 3, 2011 pre-trial ruling by Judge James C. Cacheris sets forth the facts in considerable detail…
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Diminished Capacity, Protective Custody, and Refusing Aid
Following up on yesterday’s post and discussion with Michael Morse and Rescuing Providence, the question has been posed about the legality of using police officers to take people with diminished capacity into custody as a way to authorize us to treat and transport them against their will. There is a lot of good, down to earth advice we come across in the fire and EMS communities. Having been a firefighter for ten years before I started law school, one of the things I focused on in my studies was understanding the legal underpinnings of that down to earth advice. We have…
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Capacity, Competency and Liability: Rescuing Providence
My friend, colleague from the Providence Fire Department, and fellow author/blogger Mike Morse, has posed a hypothetical question to me. At least he has assured me that the case is hypothetical and bears no relation to a real incident. Take a look at Rescuing Providence. One of the most difficult situations that a firefighter, EMT or paramedic can face is the challenge of dealing with a patient whose mental capacity is in question, and who wants to refuse aid. The issues are complicated, the stakes are high, and if a mistake is made – in the wisdom of hindsight –…
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Second Spotsylvania Firefighter Charged with Sexual Assault on Minor in FD Vehicle
A second firefighter with Chancellor Volunteer Fire Rescue in Spotsylvania County, VA has been charged with sexually assaulting a minor in a fire department vehicle. That is two in the last 2 weeks. Here is the first story, from just 11 days ago. The latest assault took place on April 18. 2011 and involved a 17 year old junior firefighter.
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Roanoke Fire Captain Gets Reprieve For Sex in Station
I am not sure where to begin with this one. The titles I considered will give you some idea of the possible directions this post could have taken: Roanoke Captain Called A Boon to Local Attorneys (2 lawsuits and a grievance hearing in just over a year provide needed relief to Roanoke lawyers in a down economy); Sex Crazed Firefighters Stealing Legal Headlines (five of the past six fire law blog posts involved some sort of sexual misconduct or sex based issue). Good News Bad News For Roanoke Captain (your now a lieutenant but at least you have a job).…
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Firefighter Accused of Sexual Assault on Fire Victim
A volunteer firefighter from Fairfield County, South Carolina has been accused of sexually assaulting a legally blind fire victim over the weekend. On Saturday, Ralph Marthers , 51, returned to the home of the female victim following a small fence fire to deliver a copy of the fire report when the assault took place. As unbelievable as the story sounds, it gets even worse: Mathers is a registered sex offender. This is the second case involving a firefighter who is a registered sex offender in recent memory. Recall the case from North Carolina last year involving Red Oak Volunteer Fire Department Captain Robert…
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Texas Court Rules LODD Firefighter’s Marriage To Another Man Invalid
In one of the most bizarre fire service cases in recent times, a state court judge in Texas has issued a ruling in the case of a transgendered woman seeking over $600,000 in benefits as the surviving spouse of a LODD firefighter. Judge Randy Clapp ruled today that the marriage between Wharton Fire Department Captain Thomas Araguz III, who died in the line of duty on July 3, 2010, and Nikki Azagus, was void because Nikki was formerly a man. She was born Justin Graham Purdue. Simona Longoria, Thomas’ mother, filed the lawsuit seeking to have the marriage voided on…
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Sex Discrimination Or Legitimate Disciplinary Termination of a Probationary Employee
Was it the lie she told that got her fired, or was the lie just a convenient excuse to get rid of a female firefighter who forced her way on the job to begin with? That is the issue at the center of a lawsuit filed last week in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Victoria Bozic was fired by the city of Washington Fire Department on March 5, 2009, shortly after she misrepresented where she lived during an alleged interrogation about her residency. Just six months earlier Bozic had been hired through a settlement of her…
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Michigan Jury Awards $12.5 Million Against Ambulance and EMT for Sexual Assault
Michigan jury awarded $12.5 million to a girl who was sexually assaulted by an EMT during a non-emergency transport.
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