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NJ Appeals Court Denies Suit by Captain For Injuries Caused by Probationary Firefighter
The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court has held that a fire captain cannot recover for injuries he sustained that he claims were due to the incompetence of a probationary firefighter. The lawsuit was brought by Captain Robert Eckert of the Camden Fire Department.
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Fire Law Roundup for January 9, 2023
In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for January 9, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss a ruling out of Montgomery, Alabama upholding the resignation of a chief officer who claims be was constructively discharged; a claim my a Mobile firefighter that she was terminated because of a tattoo; the $3.25 million settlement of a firehouse sexual abuse case arising out of events that occurred in the 1970s; the denial of city-funded legal representation for a Colorado firefighter charged with careless driving death resulting; and a lawsuit against FDNY about forcibly taking emotionally disturbed patients to a hospital. Alabama Chief Loses…
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Alabama Chief Loses Constructive Discharge Case
A Montgomery chief officer who resigned in 2018 while facing domestic violence charges, has lost his suit alleging constructive discharge and due process violations. Chief of Operations Kenneth Bolling claims he was pressured into resigning immediately in order to preserve his retirement benefits.
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Alabama Firefighter Terminated For Tattoo and Grooming Violations
A Mobile firefighter who claims she was told to grow her hair to cover a tattoo on her head, was nevertheless terminated after a complaint was filed over her hair. Kay’Ana Adams was fired by the Mobile Fire Department late last year.
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City Settles Firehouse Child Sexual Abuse Suit for $3.25 Million
The City of Rye, New York has agreed to pay $3.25 million to settle a sexual abuse lawsuit brought in 2020 over conduct that took place in a firehouse in the 1970s. The suit claimed that two officers of the Rye Fire Department sexually abused a young boy.
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City Refuses Legal Defense for Firefighter Facing Criminal Charges for Apparatus Accident
A Colorado Springs firefighter who is facing criminal charges following a fatal apparatus accident last October, will have to pay for his own legal defense. Wesley Cosgrove was hoping the city would provide a defense attorney, but the Colorado Springs City Council voted 6-2 to deny his request.
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Suit Claims Forcing Emotionally Disturbed Person to go to Hospital is a Civil Rights Violation
A man with psychological problems who was forcibly taken to the hospital on two occasions in 2021, has filed suit against NYPD, FDNY and the city’s hospital system claiming violations of his Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Ali Moore claims that he was “wrongfully arrested, seized, harassed...
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Fire Law Roundup for January 2, 2023
This is our annual review of the top Fire Law cases of 2022. Brad gives his 5 most interesting and Curt gives his 5 most important.
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Colorado Firefighter Alleges Sexual Assaults and Harassment
A Colorado firefighter has filed suit alleging she was sexually harassed throughout much of her 10-year membership in the East Grand Fire Protection District #4, and sexually assaulted leading to her constructive termination. Lisa MacKendrick filed suit in US District Court for the District of Colorado against the district and its fire chief.
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Mass Civil Service Commission Renders a Split Decision in Boston Discipline Case
The Massachusetts Civil Service Commission has upheld in part, and reversed in part, discipline of a Boston firefighter on charges of insubordination, unbecoming behavior, and being absent without leave.
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Fire Law Roundup for December 26, 2022
In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for December 26, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss the settlement of race discrimination lawsuit brought by the former fire chief in Plainfield, New Jersey bringing to a close a tumultuous few years; a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of an Air National Guard firefighter who died while fighting a structure fire off-base; a lawsuit brought by a man who was riding the front bumper of a ladder truck while dressed as Santa Claus seeking nearly $500,000 in damages for the injuries he sustained when the truck went over a drainage channel;…
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