Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for June 2, 2025, Brad and Curt discuss an Ohio appellate decision granting firefighters immunity in an EMS-related negligence suit; a lawsuit against a Texas fire department over injuries sustained during a department-sponsored ...

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The Court of Appeals for Ohio’s Fifth Appellate District has reversed a lower court’s denial of summary judgment to several Mansfield first responders and the City of Mansfield, finding that the defendants are entitled to statutory immunity in a case arising from emergency medical treatment provided to a man suffering from a severe asthma attack.

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A woman who was injured at a fire department-sponsored event in 2023, has filed suit against the Everman Fire Department, the City of Everman, and a third party who owned an amusement device involved in the incident. Earlene Wilson filed suit in Tarrant County District Court earlier this week.

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A federal judge in Florida has ruled that District Chiefs in the Orlando Fire Department do not qualify under the First Responder Regulations as hourly employees, and therefore may qualify as exempt from FLSA-mandated overtime. However, the court declined to find them exempt white-collar employees at this juncture in the proceeding.

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A federal judge in the Northern District of California has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a former San Francisco firefighter who claims his injuries at a structure fire in 2009 was due to race discrimination and negligence. Michael Estrada filed suit pro se earlier this year alleging civil rights violations under 42 USC §1983, gross negligence, race discrimination.

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Today’s burning question: I am a female fire captain in a large metro-sized fire department. I just discovered that a photo of a topless woman falsely said to be me is circulating electronically among fire department personnel. I asked the ...

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for May 26, 2025, Brad and Curt discuss the dismissal of a suit that sought to dissolve a a New York fire district; the dismissal of a disability discrimination lawsuit against a Washington ...

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A New York State Supreme Court judge has dismissed an effort by two residents to dissolve the Richland Fire District. The decision, handed down on May 22, 2025, cites numerous legal deficiencies in the dissolution petition filed by Crystal Myers and Timothy Thayer.

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The Washington Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by a fire department mechanic against the City of Tacoma. The case centered on whether the City failed to accommodate Liam Riley’s medical conditions under the Washington Law Against Discrimination.

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A federal judge has granted summary judgment to the City of Manhattan Beach, California, in a First Amendment retaliation case filed by two fire officers. Captains David Shenbaum and Timothy O’Brien sued alleging that they were subjected to retaliatory actions for their union activities and for filing a federal lawsuit against the city.

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The Appellate Court of Maryland has upheld the dismissal of criminal charges against an Annapolis firefighter who was accused of filing a false special incident report. Firefighter III/Paramedic Bridget Elizabeth Weiss was charged with one count of common law misdemeanor of misconduct in office stemming from an investigation into the death of a patient.

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The family of a man who died after being injected with a lethal dose of a paralytic agent by a Sioux City Fire Rescue paramedic has filed suit against the city, nine emergency responders, and a physician. James Foster Jr., 26, died on August 18, 2023 after former paramedic Deanna LaMere mistakenly injected him with rocuronium.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for May 19, 2025, Brad and Curt discuss five under-the-radar cases from last week, plus the approval of a settlement of an FLSA suit brought by  Massachusetts firefighters; a discrimination case brought by ...

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As another week starts, we once again have several cases in the Fire Law headlines. Let’s start with another victory for our friend and colleague, Brad Pinsky.

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