Sexual misconduct

A judge has ordered the San Jose Fire Department to turn over investigatory records from the Pink Poodle Strip Club incident to the San Jose Mercury News. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Thomas E. Kuhnle issued the ruling on Friday concluding that the public records law mandates that the documents be released.

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A civil suit brought by the family of a 16-year-old girl against a former firefighter and the City of Marco Island has been settled just before the case was scheduled to go to trial. Nicholas Macchiarolo was a firefighter with the Marco Island Fire Department in 2018 when he shared explicit photos with the girl via Facebook Messenger and Snapchat.

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The Massachusetts Court of Appeal has vacated a harassment prevention order between two fire department EMTs, concluding that while troubling, the behavior that occurred did not meet the statutory definition of harassment. The restraining order was obtained by a female EMT identified as E.T., who claimed that a colleague, J.U., created and shared lewd images of her through “cropping.”

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A class action sexual harassment lawsuit brought against a Canadian fire department has resulted in a novel settlement that will award victims between $10,000 and $285,000. The suit was brought last year by two female firefighters against the Leduc Fire Services, in Ontario.

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A Pennsylvania fire chief is facing obstruction of justice charges for failing to report allegations that his deputy chief sexually abused a junior firefighter. Fire Chief Thomas Weber of the Folcroft Fire Department has been charged with failing to report suspected child abuse, endangering the welfare of a child, and obstructing an investigation.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for May 22, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss a lawsuit filed by a New York volunteer fire company against contractors over toxic fill used in the construction of a new firehouse; the filing ...

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“Throughout your life you hear about weird stuff that goes on in small communities and politics and stuff and here we are.” After reading what has been going on in the Tillamook Fire District, I think his quote can only be characterized as a severe understatement.

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A California firefighter who was dismissed from two different fire departments, has filed suit against one of the departments and three of its officers. Shelly White filed suit against the Rough & Ready Fire Protection District, Fire Chief Robert Vaughn, Captain Matt Wright, and Lieutenant David Hicks alleging sexual harassment and discrimination.

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The San Jose Mercury News has filed suit against the City of San Jose seeking to obtain records related to the fire department investigation into the Pink Poodle strip club incident and the reported discipline of members involved. The suit was filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court pursuant to the state’s public records law.

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Two cases we have been following have seemingly come to a conclusion this past week. The first case out of San Jose caught quite a bit of media attention due to the titillating nature of the allegations: a video surfaced last fall showing a scantily clad woman exiting a San Jose engine and entering a local strip club.

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Four lawsuits have been filed against the City of Everett by firefighters who claim they were sexually harassed by a fire academy instructor who is already being sued for sexual harassment. The four male firefighters filed separate suits in Snohomish County Superior Court claiming the city of failing to address harassment perpetrated by Chau Nguyen.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for April 10, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit out of Oregon; an investigation by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue into a hidden bathroom cam; the granting of summary judgment ...

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The City of Columbus has agreed to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by city firefighter over her treatment while in the fire academy in 2019. The suit was originally filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, and later removed to US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.

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A New Jersey jury has found the City of Perth Amboy and the Perth Amboy Fire Department liable for a series of sexual assaults perpetrated thirty years ago by a firefighter on a 12-year-old boy. The firefighter, Hugo Fleites, was sentenced to ten years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated sexual assault in 2019.

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