FDNY EMS Union Sues City Over Temporary Assignment of Fire Cadets to EMS

A lawsuit filed in New York County Supreme Court challenges the FDNY’s plan to temporarily convert 82 Fire Cadets into Emergency Medical Service (EMS) employees—a move the EMS union alleges violates civil service law and threatens the integrity of the hiring process.

The Article 78 petition, brought by District Council 37 (DC 37), its affiliate Local 2507, and their respective leaders Henry Garrido and Oren Barzilay, seeks to halt the City’s plan to reclassify these Fire Cadets as either EMS Trainees or Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). The petition argues that this conversion bypasses legally established hiring procedures, ignores existing eligibility lists, and places undue strain on the FDNY EMS Academy.

The 82 Fire Cadets in question were enrolled in the FDNY’s revived Cadet program—designed to prepare candidates for entry into the Firefighter ranks. As explained in the complaint:

• Fire Cadets are hired for a two-year course to train to become Firefighters.
• During this two-year course, they are employed on a part-time schedule and perform administrative duties while undergoing training.
• Following passage of the Firefighter civil service examination and graduation from the Fire Cadet program, Fire Cadets are to be enrolled in the Firefighter training course before becoming Firefighters.

However, due to the timing of their graduation in May 2025 and the next Fire Academy class not beginning until October, FDNY proposed reclassifying them into EMS roles as a stopgap measure.

Under the plan outlined by FDNY officials, Cadets would be given temporary appointments as EMS Trainees or EMTs and enrolled in an 18-week training program beginning June 16, 2025. Those who already hold EMT certification would skip the trainee phase and move directly to temporary EMT status. Once trained, these Cadets would be assigned to field EMS duties—potentially up until they are called for the Fire Academy.

DC 37 and Local 2507 argue that the move is a clear violation of state civil service laws and the New York State Constitution. According to the lawsuit, there are already valid civil service eligibility lists for both EMTs and EMS Trainees, and appointments must be made from those lists under the “one-in-three” rule. The union maintains that none of the 82 Fire Cadets had applied for or were placed on those lists.

The petition also raises operational concerns. The EMS Academy, which is already understaffed, would be forced to run an additional training class for these Cadets—drawing instructors away from paramedic and basic EMT training classes and relying on heavy overtime. According to the union, this diverts scarce resources away from training those who are actually entering the EMS workforce permanently.

The petition alleges:

• Violation of Article 5, §6 of the New York Constitution, which requires competitive civil service appointments based on merit and fitness.
• Violation of Civil Service Law §§ 64 and 65, which strictly limit the use of temporary and provisional appointments when eligibility lists exist.
• Violation of DCAS Personnel Rules, which echo the civil service laws and further restrict the use of temporary appointments absent demonstrated urgency.

The union contends that FDNY has not demonstrated any “important and urgent” need to justify the temporary EMS appointments—especially since the Cadets will not be deployable in the field until they complete the training program nearly five months later.

The union is asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order and permanent injunction preventing the City from:

• Temporarily appointing the Fire Cadets as EMS Trainees or EMTs,
• Conducting the planned EMT training for these Cadets,
• And requiring that all EMS appointments be made from the established civil service eligibility lists.

Here is a copy of the complaint: