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

In this special edition of Fire Law VLOG, Brad and Curt discuss with Attorney Kevin Fairlie the challenges of fire departments and EMS agencies when it comes to EMS billing. Many fire and EMS organizations are being audited and investigated for Medicare fraud. There are solutions as Brad and Kevin suggest.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for August 1, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss a gender discrimination suit by two chief officers in the Tulsa Fire Department; a ruling by the Texas Court of Appeals holding that backpay for ...

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Two chief officers in the Tulsa Fire Department have filed suit claiming they were passed over for promotion because of their gender, and retaliated against after they complained. Greta Hurt and Julie Lynn filed suit in US District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma alleging a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

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A Texas firefighter who was wrongfully suspended for over four years, and who made more than he would have made if he remained employed as a firefighter, has prevailed in an effort to get the fire department to compensate him for those weeks when he made less than what he would have made. The complicated case involves a firefighter for the City of Big Spring, Fabian Scott Butler.

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The City of Portland, Oregon has agreed to settle a suit filed by a former firefighter-paramedic for $93,000. Gabriel A. Watson filed suit last year seeking in excess of $1.2 million in damages over a “medical layoff” in 2020.

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The Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that governmental immunity does not protect a municipal fire department from liability for gross negligence in an EMS related wrongful death suit. The case was brought by the family of Patrick Antonio Clemons-Hodges, against the City of Detroit and two EMTs.

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A former South Carolina fire chief who was terminated in 2020 has filed a defamation suit against the mayor who fired him. Mark Redd was the fire chief in Wagener. He was terminated by Mayor Michael Miller after serving the town as a volunteer firefighter for over 40 years, the last 23 of which as fire chief.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for July 25, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss the filing of two more AFFF-related toxic tort suits; the settlement of a lawsuit in Stamford , Connecticut challenging the promotional process as violating merit ...

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The Skiatook Fire Department is being sued by the estate of a man who died in 2021 after not being transported to the hospital. James Lee Bodley passed away sometime between January 18, 2021 when he first called for medical aid, and January 20, 2021 when his family discovered his body.

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The US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin has ruled that the City of Madison did not unlawfully discriminate against women applicants to its fire department, despite the fact only 14% passed a physical abilities test that 84% of men passed. The ruling came in a suit brought Catherine Erdman challenging the 2014 hiring process.

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Two more AFFF toxic tort lawsuits are in the fire law news today. In New York state, the Hampton Bays Fire District has filed suit against thirty named manufacturers of aqueous film forming foam. The suit alleges that AFFF caused contamination of the soil and groundwater at the district’s facilities.

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A lawsuit challenging changes to the promotional process within the Stamford Fire Department, has been settled. Lieutenants Kevin Dingle and Bruce Wagoner, and firefighters Robert Pickering and Brian Whitbread filed the suit in 2018 challenging the city’s use of rounding and/or banding scores on promotional exams in 2017.

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A religious discrimination lawsuit filed by a firefighter in Puerto Rico has been stayed pursuant to a special law enacted to stabilize Puerto Rico’s economic situation. Danny James-Febo filed suit against the Negociado del Cuerpo de Bomberos de Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico Fire Department), several supervisors, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for July 18, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss a Massachusetts firefighter charged with using a hidden camera to secretly record a female colleague in the firehouse; a Georgia firefighter who filed a whistleblower ...

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