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Electronic Monitoring Case: Connecticut
A very interesting case was decided on January 5, 2010 involving the Bridgeport, Connecticut Fire Department. In May of 2007, the city acquired new vehicles for city fire inspectors, and installed GPS devices in order to electronically monitor the movement and location of the vehicles while they were in use. The city monitored the inspectors’ activities using the GPS devices and brought disciplinary actions against inspectors Frank Gerardi and Stephen Vitka. Gerardi and Vitka filed suit against the city alleging it had violated Connecticut General Statutes § 31-48d which prohibits employers from electronically monitoring employees without prior notice to the…
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Beaufort Fire Given New Assignment
There are many reasons why the fire service has such a strong connection to the law, but a recent story out of South Carolina brought that connection home to me once again in a way I had not expected. In Beaufort, they have been having a difficult time enforcing their nuisance codes which govern things like overgrown grass and shrubs, trash and other safety and health violations. Beginning Monday, January 11, 2010, the Beaufort Fire department will take over enforcement responsibility for the nuisance code. What at first blush may seem like a strange assignment actually has a pretty logical…
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Identity Theft: Jury Duty Scam
If you are like me, you are tired of the internet hoax emails claiming such rubbish as "in 1987 Oliver North testified before Congress that Osama bin Laden was the most evil person alive”, or that "cut flowers can remove oxygen from the air". But every once in a while you get a spam email that is legit, and I got one today relative to a scam involving jury duty. The scam goes something like this: You receive a call from someone claiming to be a jury commissioner who says you were told to report for jury duty, that you did…
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Westbrook Replaces Its Fire Chief
Over the past few months, I have written twice about the Westbrook, Maine Fire Department, and the difficulty they seem to be having in addressing allegations of sexual harassment. Now comes word that the newly elected mayor has decided to replace the fire chief. Westbrook Mayor Colleen Hilton, announced during her inauguration speech on January 4, 2010, that she would not be reappointing Fire Chief Daniel Brock. Her decision effectively fires the chief, and the Mayor immediately appointed the police chief to serve as acting fire chief. Chief Brock, who came to Westbrook from the outside, had only been appointed a year…
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LA County Fire Department Sex Harassment Claims Close to Settlement
The Los Angeles Daily News reported on Monday, that the Los Angeles County Claims Board was meeting to consider settling two Los Angeles County Fire Department lawsuits arising out of sexual harassment that occurred in 2003. Reportedly, Mary Villegas, who was assigned to the department’s hazardous materials facility in Sylmar, was harassed by two inspectors and a supervisor. Milton Molina, a fire inspector, observed what he referred to as repeated acts of sexual harassment, taunting and a sexually hostile work environment directed toward Villegas, and stood up for her. Molina claims that afterwards he was retaliated against. In separate lawsuits,…
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Families Sue Building Owners for Fire Deaths
The families of three young women killed in a fire at the Willows of Coventry apartment complex in Fort Wayne, Indiana on January 23, 2009, are now suing the owners of the property, alleging they failed to provide a reasonably safe place to live. The three women, Lara Punches, Jennifer Spurgeon and Renea Patton, were students at International Business College. Named as defendants in the suit were Dial Equities, the owner of the Willows at the time of the fire, and Bradford Schools, who operates International Business College. The school, located adjacent to the apartment complex, rented entire apartment buildings…
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Ready… Fire… Aim
On December 23, 2009, a Superior Court Judge in New Jersey, dismissed internal administrative charges against three Atlantic City firefighters who were suspended in the aftermath of a sensationalized case, the likes of which brought in such headliners as Reverend Al Sharpton. The case arose in September, 2009 when four teenage black girls alleged that a white firefighter lured them into a fire station and committed lewd acts in May of 2009. The girls filed a lawsuit against the firefighter and the Atlantic City Fire Department prompting a public outcry for justice. In a rush to respond to the public…
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Sexual Harassment in Westbrook – The Story Continues
There has been another development in the decade long sexual harassment battle in the Westbrook, Maine Fire Department, as two male firefighters have contested disciplinary actions imposed against them. Lt. Donald Trafford and Firefighter Matthew Lamontagne are grieving their punishments to the Maine Labor Relations Board. The action comes on the heels of a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by female firefighters. The same firefighters had previously complained to the Maine Human Rights Commission in 1994 and 2001, on each occasion prevailing and receiving settlements. On the positive side, the department is bringing in a consultant to address allegations of gender…
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You Can’t Win Them All
A retired battalion chief from the Kansas City (Missouri) Fire Department who won two previous Federal court cases for sexual discrimination in 1999 (Kline I) and 2006 (Kline II), finally lost a case (Kline III). On December 22, 2009, a Jackson County Circuit Court jury ruled against Chief Kathleen Kline’s claims of sex discrimination. Chief Kline's previous lawsuits were instrumental in highlighting the challenges faced by women in the fire service. They addressed an overall lack of concern that many fire departments showed toward female firefighters, from providing ill-fitting protective clothing to totally inadequate facilities for showering, changing, and sleeping.…
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Albuquerque Tackles Firefighter DWI Problem
The Albuquerque Fire Department has been struggling with a persistent problem: drunk driving arrests of its off duty personnel. in 2008 there were 6 DWI arrests of AFD firefighters. In 2009, the number jumped to 9. Each new case has been receiving unprecidented news coverage, leaving the public, politicians and the media asking questions about just what is going on in the AFD. Any time an employer seeks to influence off duty behavior, it runs certain risks: will the actions be challenged by the employees? Will it be challenged in the courts thereby tying up the department for years to come? Will it be…
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Fire Station Practical Joke Leads to Criminal Charges
Under the heading of you can’t make this stuff up, comes a really dumb – but in many ways even more tragic – incident from Connecticut involving several junior firefighters, and a few non-so junior firefighters. While in the Quaker Hill fire station in Waterford on September 27, 2009, a 14 year old junior firefighter pulled a chair out from underneath the girlfriend of a firefighter. Not surprisingly, the woman and her boyfriend took offense. Several hours later, the junior firefighter was summoned by a captain, and several parties then proceeded to duct-tape and strap the 14 year old to…
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The Ricci Case Grinds On in New Haven
A week after 14 members of the “New Haven 20” received their long awaited promotions, it was back to court for the parties. In a document titled “Plaintiff’s Brief on Post-Remand Liability Issues and Elements of Title VII Damages”, attorney Karen Lee Torre outlined what the 20 plaintiffs will seek when a jury is empanelled to consider damages. Specifically, the purpose of the brief was to address: “(a) the scope and nature of damages to which Plaintiffs are entitled under Title VII, and (b) whether any counts remain for liability adjudication.” Four members of the group who were not among the initial…
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NY City EMTs – the Duty to Act
A recent incident in New York City once again raises the question of duty to act. Does an off-duty EMT have a duty to render aid to a citizen in distress? While it will take years for the legal issues to play themselves out, the tragedy is being played out in the press damaging the reputation of FDNY and EMS workers in the process. On December 9, 2009, at about 9:00 am two EMTs walked into an Au Bon Pain coffee shop. While there, an employee began experiencing shortness of breath and abdominal pains. The woman, who was pregnant at…
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Fire Retardant Air Drops Under Fire
An interesting case is brewing in California over the use of aircraft deployed fire retardant. It seems some steelhead trout were killed in the Jesusita Fire in May, 2009, and the culprit is alleged to be the fire retardant. What is unusual about the story isn’t that some fringe environmental group is upset about something that seems pretty reasonable to most people. That’s not news. What is unusual is who is complaining: an environmental group of Forest Service employees, known as Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics (FSEEE). The Forest Service is one of the largest firefighting forces in the…
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