Duty to Act

Two Rialto, California firefighters who were terminated in the aftermath of a high-profile EMS incident in 2021, have been reinstated by an arbitrator. Captain Josh Gilliam, Firefighter-Paramedic Matt Payne, and Engineer Mark Brady were accused of wrongfully refusing to enter the Rialto Post Acute Care Center on November 17, 2021 due to COVID related concerns.

Read More »

A wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Portland and a city firefighter over the drowning death of a man who was being pursued by police, has been dismissed. Eric Cohen died on April 12, 2020 after he jumped into the frigid bay waters.

Read More »

The San Diego Fire Department is being sued by the guardian ad litem for the estate of an 11-year-old girl and her two sisters who claim the fire department, the police department, and a handful of others bear partial responsibility for neglect and abuse perpetrated by their adoptive parents. Steven Ratner filed suit in San Diego County Superior Court on behalf of the estate of Arabella McCormack and her younger sisters identified as A.M. and E.M.

Read More »

The Second Division Court of Appeals of Georgia has held that when police order EMS to stage, and later release them because no victim is located, there is no legal duty on the part of the medics to independently verify the police determination. The decision reverses a trial court ruling and resulted in the granting of a motion for summary judgment for the EMS provider.

Read More »

Two families who lost their homes in separate fires after firefighters were unable to get water from area fire hydrants, have filed separate lawsuits against the local water authority and township. The suits claim the defendants were aware of the problems with the hydrant system but failed to rectify the situation.

Read More »

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for April 3, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the brother of a man whose body was used for intubation practice by a Washington state fire department; ...

Read More »

The Supreme Court of Washington has ruled that the public duty doctrine, one of the fire service’s most important defenses to negligence claims, only applies to statutorily created duties, not common law duties. The ruling came in a suit case brought against the Seattle Fire Department alleging firefighters responded to the wrong address.

Read More »

The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that governmental immunity does not protect a municipal fire department from liability for gross negligence in an EMS related wrongful death suit. The case was brought by the family of Patrick Antonio Clemons-Hodges, against the City of Detroit and two EMTs.

Read More »

The daughter of a man who died last November, is seeking $100 million in damages against the Rialto Fire Department claiming medics wrongfully refused to enter a medical facility due to concerns over COVID. Joseph Angulo, 56, died on November 17, 2021.

Read More »

The US District Court for the District of Massachusetts has handed down an important decision on the intersection of a public employee’s due process rights and the union’s right as the exclusive bargaining agent to refuse to process a grievance to arbitration.

Read More »

A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has been remanded back to state court by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida after the federal claims were dismissed. The lawsuit was filed last year by the family of Gustavo Beaz, who died in 2019.

Read More »

The family of an Oregon woman who died of COVID in 2020, has filed suit against the fire department and several firefighters claiming their refusal to treat and transport the victim led to her death. Teresa Vaughn died on December 26, 2020, hours after firefighters from the Klamath County Fire District No. 1 suggested her domestic partner drive her to the hospital.

Read More »

The Rialto Fire Department is investigating allegations that two of its medics refused to enter a medical facility to treat and transport a man in cardiac arrest. The incident occurred on November 17, 2021, and some of it was captured on the body-cam of a local police officer.

Read More »

A Washington man who was arrested for shoplifting has filed suit against jail officials as well as the local fire department who he claims failed to provide appropriate treatment and transportation when he suffered a series of strokes associated with atrial fibrillation while in custody.

Read More »