Tag Archives: sexual assault

An assistant chief with the Orlando Fire Department has filed suit accusing a former fire chief of sexual harassment, and the city with failing to address it. Assistant Chief Dawn R. Sumter filed suit yesterday in US District Court for the Middle District of Florida naming the City of Orlando and former Fire Chief Roderick Williams as defendants.

Read More »

A Columbus, Ohio battalion chief who resigned last year amidst allegation of sexual harassment, has been sued by a “fire cadet” for coercing her to undress and touching her inappropriately. The cadet, whose name was not released in news reports about the lawsuit, filed suit today in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

Read More »

A female firefighter who was forced to take a medical retirement from the Fort Worth Fire Department has filed a 55-page, 330-paragraph, ten-count complaint naming the city and five officers, accusing them of sexual harassment and violating her civil rights. Identified in the complaint as Jane Doe, the firefighter claims she was sexually assaulted while on-duty by supervisors.

Read More »

A Montana firefighter is facing criminal charges for falsely telling two young women they needed to evacuate due to an approaching wildland fire, and then sexually assaulting them. Edward Chevallier, 55, is facing a total of four charges stemming from an evacuation order he gave to the women which he attributed to the Horesefly fire.

Read More »

A volunteer EMT has filed suit claiming she was sexually assaulted by a career lieutenant while participating in ride-along training with the Bedford County Department of Fire & Rescue when she was a minor. Identified as Jane Doe in the complaint, the EMT alleges she was sexually assaulted by Lieutenant Larry Scott Hawkins during a ride-along training session in February, 2018.

Read More »

A Pennsylvania fire chief has been charged with having sex with a 14-year-old junior firefighter. Kevin Mains, fire chief for the Strong Fire Company, is accused of having sex with the girl on four occasions, twice at the fire station and twice at a motorcycle club in Coal Township.

Read More »

A county fire academy in New Jersey has been named in a federal lawsuit brought by a female firefighter who claims that an instructor she met while a student, bound, raped and strangled her. The firefighter, identified in the suit only as "A.S.", accuses instructor John Syers, Jr. of perpetrating the rape in September, 2018

Read More »

A lawsuit that alleged a 13-year old girl was sexually assaulted by a fire lieutenant while participating in the department’s junior program has been settled. The family of the victim, who was identified in the pleadings as T.S., filed the suit last year naming Lieutenant Joshua James Ralston and the Trucksville Volunteer Fire Department as defendants.

Read More »

A former Utah firefighter has filed a $1.2 million suit in federal court alleging she was sexually harassed and raped by an assistant chief. Valerie Engstrom claims Assistant Fire Chief Austin James Corry of the Kanosh Volunteer Fire Department harassed her over an extended period of time, and then raped her on three separate occasions.

Read More »

A Massachusetts firefighter who claims he was sexually assaulted by his fire chief, has filed suit against the fire department, the town’s selectmen, and the fire chief. Ryan Williams filed suit last week against the Kingston Fire Department, the Town of Kingston’s Board of Selectmen, and former Fire Chief Robert Heath over an assault that took place in 2017.

Read More »

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision by the District of Columbia Police and Firefighters' Retirement and Relief Board that disabling stress associated with sexual harassment and/or a sexual assault does not qualify a firefighter for a performance of duty disability pension.

Read More »

Allegations of sexual assault and a hostile work environment have been swirling for over a year in the Rio Rico Medical & Fire District, but this week two former firefighters filed suit against the district, a former fire chief and his wife, and a current captain and his wife.

Read More »

A Los Angeles firefighter who claims he was falsely accused of sexually assaulting a patient, has filed suit accusing the department of defamation and discrimination. Louis Cerda, a 25 year veteran of Mexican-American heritage, filed suit last week claiming that the department’s handling of a female patient’s accusations damaged his reputation and subjected him to adverse employment action.

Read More »

An assistant fire chief with the Kanosh Fire Department has been charged with rape, sex abuse and sexual battery after a firefighter reported he had been sexually assaulting her at work over a three-year period. Austin James Corry was charged with rape, object rape, forcible sex abuse, and sexual battery.

Read More »