Discrimination

A probationary firefighter with the Los Angeles County Fire Department who resigned after just ten months on the job due to stress and harassment, has filed suit against the county claiming disability discrimination. The suit was filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging six counts of employment discrimination under state law.

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An FDNY firefighter who was terminated in March for refusing to get a COVID vaccine, has been reinstated by a Justice of the New York Supreme Court. Timothy Rivicci has been ordered reinstated with full backpay and benefits under a ruling by Supreme Court Justice Ralph Porzio last week.

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A Lansing firefighter who filed a race discrimination suit in 2019, and a second discrimination suit in 2020 alleging retaliation and violation of his First Amendment rights, has been awarded $1 million in damages by a federal court jury. Michael Lynn Jr. filed the first suit after he discovered a banana placed between the windshield and the wiper of his assigned truck.

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A Los Angeles County Firefighter who was prohibited from returning to active duty and ordered to retire after he suffered two epileptic seizures, has filed suit claiming the county violated California’s disability discrimination laws. Andrew Lithgoe filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

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A Minnesota fire captain who was terminated earlier this year when he was unable to return to duty due to PTSD, has filed suit alleging disability discrimination. Joseph Tiedeman filed suit against the City of Brooklyn Park claiming that its decision to terminate him in March, 2022, violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

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A volunteer firefighter in New York who was dismissed for allegedly missing three consecutive monthly meetings, has filed suit claiming First Amendment, due process and equal protection violations. Keith Davis filed suit in federal court naming the Commack Fire Department, the Commack Fire District, the fire chief, the executive board, and the fire commissioners as defendants.

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An Oregon lieutenant who was pressured to remove himself from a promotional list for captain, has filed suit alleging discrimination on the basis of disability, veterans’ status, and whistleblower status. Daniel Krug filed suit in Multnomah County Circuit Court naming the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue District and Division Chief Gregory Ladrow as defendants.

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A US Magistrate Judge has recommended that summary judgment be granted to the City of Denver in a lawsuit filed by a probationary firefighter who was terminated in 2019. Da Lesha Allen filed suit claiming her dismissal was due to race and gender discrimination.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for September 5, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss the settlement of a reverse discrimination lawsuit filed twelve years ago against the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District in Missouri; a disparate impact race ...

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A reverse discrimination lawsuit filed twelve years ago against a Missouri fire district has been settled for $250,000. Harold W. Conner filed suit in 2010 against the Northeast Ambulance and Fire Protection District claiming he was threatened with discipline and forced to retire in 2008 because of his race.

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A battalion chief with the East Haven Fire Department has filed suit claiming she was passed over for promotion to assistant chief on account of her gender. Eileen Parlato filed suit in US District Court for the District of Connecticut naming the Town of East Haven as the defendant.

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A white male Los Angeles City firefighter who sought a restraining order against a black female firefighter in 2017, and sued the city for reverse discrimination in 2018, has filed another suit against the city claiming he continues to be adversely affected and retaliated against. James Sharlein filed suit against the city last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

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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 lawsuit filed by a Hartford firefighter who claims he was discriminated against on account of his race and age, has been dismissed by the US District Court for the District of Connecticut. Tony Milledge filed suit alleging he had been subjected to a hostile work environment by colleagues and supervisors for years.

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