Constitutional Rights

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.

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A US magistrate judge has recommended that a lawsuit against the West Metro Fire District and several firefighters be dismissed. The lawsuit brought by Jeremiah Axtell claimed that firefighters and police officers violated his rights by restraining him, and later injecting him with ketamine.

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A Georgia firefighter who was disciplined after contacting a county commissioner to voice concerns about apparatus being place out of service, has lost a lawsuit contesting the discipline on First Amendment and whistleblower grounds. Cobb County firefighter Scott Millspaugh filed suit last year claiming his “demotion” from Firefighter III to Firefighter II was retaliation

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A lawsuit filed by a disabled Florida firefighter challenging a limitation on her eligibility for a city-paid health plan in retirement has been dismissed. Karyn D. Stanley claimed that the City of Sanford violated a state law and the Equal Protection clause by discontinuing the payment of health care premiums for disabled firefighters twenty-four months after their date of retirement.

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A Nevada man who suffered respiratory arrest after medics administered ketamine to him in 2020, is suing the fire department, two medics and two police officers involved in the incident. Marc Galli filed suit last September against the city of Henderson, the medics and the police officers. The suit was removed to US District Court yesterday.

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A federal district court judge has upheld a vaccine mandate ordered by Illinois Governor Jay Robert Pritzker, from a challenge brought by six Naperville firefighters. The lawsuit filed in September claimed the vaccine mandate exceeded the governor’s authority, and violated the firefighters’ constitutional rights.

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The husband of a female firefighter who committed suicide allegedly due to sexual harassment, has filed suit against the fire department and a lieutenant accused of perpetrating the harassment. Daniel Zaboroski filed suit earlier this year as the executor for the estate of his wife, Nicole Hladik.

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Two Beverly Hills firefighters have filed suit challenging a vaccine mandate imposed by Los Angeles County on all health care workers. The suit was brought by Josh Sattley and Ettore Berardinelli, Jr., along with a non-profit, Protection for the Educational Rights of Kids.

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Another week, another new COVID related headline. The Los Angeles City Fire Department is investigating allegations that a firefighter dropped his pants and wiped his butt with a notice related to his non-compliance with the city’s vaccine requirements.

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Fifty firefighters with FDNY who were placed on leave without pay on November 1, 2021 because they had not been vaccinated for COVID19, have filed suit in US District Court alleging a violation of their due process rights. The suit was filed yesterday naming the city and Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro as defendants.

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A Wilmington, Delaware firefighter has filed suit against the department and three chief officers alleging race and religious discrimination. Corey Ferrell filed suit earlier this month naming the City of Wilmington, Fire Chief John Looney, Deputy Chief John Hoban, and Battalion Chief Andre Cooper.

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A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Polk County Fire Rescue and the Winterhaven Fire Department for a 2014 heart attack response, has been dismissed. John Hamilton suffered a heart attack in May 2014 to which both departments responded.

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Six Washington state firefighters who claim they are entitled to a religious exemption from the state’s COVID vaccine mandate, have filed a class action lawsuit against two King County regional fire organizations, at least 20 municipalities, 19 fire chiefs, and the county medical director.

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A group of San Francisco employees who refer to themselves as the United SF Freedom Alliance, or USFA, have filed suit against the City and County of San Francisco seeking to block the vaccine mandate. The suit claims San Francisco’s vaccine mandate for government employees is illegal, but relies upon a rather novel argument explained below.

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