Politics

Three FDNY chiefs who were demoted by Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh earlier this month have filed suit claiming they are being retaliated against for raising legitimate safety concerns. Assistant Chiefs Joe Jardin, Michael Gala and Fred Schaaf filed suit today in Kings County Supreme Court.

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An elected official has filed suit against a Connecticut fire district claiming district officials have violated her First Amendment rights by prohibiting her from speaking at district board meetings. Christine Wakefield filed suit against the Dayville Fire District today in US District Court for the District of Connecticut.

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Five Louisiana firefighters have filed suit claiming the fire department violated their civil rights last year by ordering them to be finger printed. Christopher Perre, Kevin Crossen, Mitchell Arbaugh, Michael Giarrusso and Brandon Barthel filed suit against the East Bank Consolidated Special Service Fire Protection District.

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The Appellate Court of Illinois has ruled that a former fire chief was entitled to pension credit for the four and one-half months he was on paid administrative leave prior to his retirement. The case involved the former fire chief for the Orland Fire Protection District, Kenneth Brucki.

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The former fire chief in Sacramento is claiming that his termination earlier this year was the result of retaliation by the city’s mayor. Gary Loesch seeks $10 million because Mayor Howard Chan wrongfully terminated him on May 26, 2022, and intentionally exposed him to COVID in retaliation for having challenged earlier discipline.

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The Florida Court of Appeals has ruled that when publicly reporting on matters within the scope of his/her assigned duties, a fire chief has absolute immunity from liability for defamation. That ruling came in the high-profile Miami Fire Department case from 2017 that involved firefighters defacing family photos of a colleague and placing a noose-like string on one of the photos.

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A federal court has ruled that a fifty-year-old consent decree that mandated strict race-conscious hiring quotas for Massachusetts fire departments has achieved its intended goals in all but three communities, and will be terminated on December 31, 2024. The consent decree was the result of a series of lawsuits brought in the early 1970s by the Boston Chapter of the NAACP.

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A former South Carolina fire chief who was terminated in 2020 has filed a defamation suit against the mayor who fired him. Mark Redd was the fire chief in Wagener. He was terminated by Mayor Michael Miller after serving the town as a volunteer firefighter for over 40 years, the last 23 of which as fire chief.

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The Florida legislature has amended the Firefighters’ Bill of Rights to clarify several provisions that for years have created confusion for firefighters, unions, fire department investigators, and fire chiefs. The amended law goes into effect Friday, July 1, 2022.

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An Illinois fire chief who was terminated in 2021 has filed suit claiming the fire district violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act. John R. Nixon served as fire chief for the Fox River and Countryside Fire Rescue District from 2016 til his dismissal on August 23, 2021.

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Twenty-one San Francisco firefighters who were fired for failing to comply with the city’s COVID19 vaccine mandate have filed suit alleging religious discrimination, failure to accommodate religious beliefs under California law, due process violations, and violations of their autonomous privacy rights. The suit was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court.

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The Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court has ruled that the City of Newark must comply with an arbitrator’s ruling requiring the city to continue military leave benefits to deployed firefighters. That ruling essentially restores the city’s past practice that was put in place after 9-11.

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Fire Chief Gary Loesch who was unceremoniously fired last week by the City of Sacramento, is speaking publicly about his treatment by city officials. The official reason given by city officials for his termination was incompatibility with his management style.

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The City of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Firefighters IAFF Local 1 have reached a compromise on ending a residency requirement for firefighters. The residency requirement was incorporated into the city charter in 2013 for firefighters and police officers.

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