Labor Law

A Detroit Fire Department captain who was terminated last summer after a series of racist posts, has been reinstated by an arbitrator. Captain Tim Goodman was suspended and later terminated over Facebook posts that were characterized as “xenophobic and racist” by the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan.

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A Superior Court judge has ordered the Town of East Greenwich to reinstate the brother of an IAFF union president ruling that his firing was illegal. James Perry was fired by newly appointed town manager Gail Corrigan days before his one-year probationary period was supposed to end

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A Florida fire chief who was fired last year is alleging that elected officials, firefighter union members, and others engaged in a wide-ranging plot to destroy his ability to lead the department. Former Naples Fire Chief Steve McInerny filed both a civil claim and a lawsuit...

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Ten former officers with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade in Melbourne, Australia are filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit accusing the MFB of allowing union members to bully, intimidate, and ultimately force them off the job.

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Elected officials in an Illinois village that took its taxpayers and firefighters on a three year $800,000 legal journey to privatize the fire department only to lose at every turn, have agreed to give up the fight. Mayor Hubert Hermanek, Jr. has announced that the Village of North Riverside will stop pursuing privatizing its firefighting protection services

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The Texas Fourth Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of San Antonio Firefighters IAFF Local 624 in a battle of the validity of the “evergreen clause” in its collective bargaining agreement. The City of San Antonio sued the firefighters’ union seeking a declaratory judgment invalidating the provision

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The Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals has for the second time had to reverse Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas Judge Hollie Gallagher, ruling in favor of Cleveland Firefighters IAFF Local 93’s efforts to block non-competitive promotions to battalion chief and assistant fire chief.

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Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena went on Newsmakers to discuss the challenges the department faces including a suit by the firefighter’s union and a recent audit of the department’s inspection program. The suit filed last week by the union accuses the city administration of refusing to bargain in good faith.

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A Massachusetts deputy chief has filed suit in federal court claiming that changes in the collective bargaining agreement constitutes age discrimination. Braintree Deputy Chief Alan Predella claims that the union and the town are discriminating against him on account of his age by eliminating certain benefits to those who have worked 34 years or longer.

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A Providence firefighter who was suspended following his arrest on child solicitation charges, is suing the city for violating his due process rights. Jason August was arrested in 2015 following a six month investigation.

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In this episode, Curt discusses the recent acquittal of two Prince George’s County volunteer firefighters with Attorney Brian Bregman. Brian represented one of the firefighters accused of assaulting two female career firefighters at the scene of a structure fire in 2015.

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The Borough of Deal, New Jersey has proposed eliminating its three full-time firefighters on May 1, 2017 in an effort to curb spending. However the firefighters believe there is a more ominous reason behind the cuts. The Borough settled an overtime pay dispute with firefighters less than a month ago.

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Today’s burning question: If a collective bargaining agreement requires a fire department to count vacation and sick time as hours worked for overtime purposes, do these hours have to count toward hours worked for FLSA purposes.

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Firefighters in Santa Rosa have filed a class action lawsuit claiming the city has been improperly calculating their overtime pay in violation of the FLSA. The suit was filed last week in federal court by 118 Santa Rosa firefighters.

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