Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
The former chief of EMS for FDNY has been slapped with a hefty fine by the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board. Chief John Peruggia, who was demoted in early January following numerous complaints over the city’s response to the December 26, 2010 blizzard, agreed to pay a $12,500 fine to dispose of the matter.
The board alleged that an EMS vendor, Masimo, Inc., gave Chief Peruggia free trips and compensation in exchange for presentations the chief made at various locations across the country. At the time, Chief Peruggia was on a committee responsible for recommending whether FDNY should buy a CO meter that Masimo manufactured.
Most firefighters think of ethics laws as something that only applies to politicians and elected officials. As a result, conflicts of interest laws remain hidden traps for many firefighters who fail to recognize the potential for an ethical conflict until after the fact. In most of the cases I have been involved with, the conflict is blatantly obvious after the fact – yet the potential is missed beforehand by the firefighters involved.
