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

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup Brad and Curt review the highlight cases from 2023.  Here are Brad’s top cases: 1Louisiana Firefighters Claim Fingerprinting is Unconstitutional2KC MO Firefighter Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Fatal Apparatus Accident3Nashville Sued by Driver ...

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for December 29, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss an FMLA and disability suit filed by a terminated deputy chief in Georgia; a New Jersey firefighter charged criminally with a hate crime for showing ...

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A deputy chief in Georgia who was terminated in July, 2023, has filed suit claiming violations of the Family Medical Leave Act, disability discrimination, and retaliation. Deputy Chief Eric Phillips filed suit against Douglas County and the Douglas County Fire/EMS Department.

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A New Jersey firefighter is facing criminal hate crime charges following a noose-related incident in the Bloomfield Fire Department. Walter Coffee is facing charges of harassment with intent to intimidate on account of race or color.

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The Aurora, Colorado firefighter-medics who were facing criminal charges in the ketamine-related death of Elijah McClain, have been found guilty of negligent homicide. Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were called to assist police officers who were struggling to subdue McClain on August 30, 2019.

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A Houston firefighter assigned to the dispatch center as a Senior Communications Captain has filed suit claiming the city has failed to accommodate his sincerely held religious beliefs by requiring him to remain clean-shaven. Brandon E. O’Neal filed suit today in federal court naming the city, the Houston Fire Department and Fire Chief Samuel Pena as defendants.

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An Ohio man who claims he was assaulted and given Narcan unnecessarily by a fire chief, has filed suit against the chief personally seeking $4.5 million in damages. Jordan Aulizio filed suit against Kinsman Fire Chief Cory Van Kanegan claiming his civil rights were violated.

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The California Court of Appeals has upheld an award of $5 million in damages to a firefighter who was terminated in 2018. Timothy O’Hara was fired from the Liberty Rural County Fire Protection District after his relationship with Fire Chief Stanley D. Seifert deteriorated.

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An unusual lawsuit we covered earlier this year is back in the Fire Law headlines with a rather unusual twist: the defendants in the case are seeking a subpoena duces tecum against Google to help them identity of the source of harassing emails and online posts.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for December 18, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss a dispute between volunteer fire companies in New Jersey; a decision by the California Court of Appeals ruling that a critically injured San Francisco firefighter ...

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Every once in a while, a would-be litigant takes a “shot over the bow” of a neighbor mutual aid fire department when the continued service of the fire company is on the line. A trend across the nation appears to involve municipal consideration of other fire companies to serve the territory traditionally served by the complaining fire company.

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A San Francisco firefighter who was critically injured when a city bus drove over a hoseline at a building fire, has lost his suit to hold the city and the bus driver liable. Matthew Vann suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent two weeks in ICU following the November 2, 2020 fire.

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The Louisiana Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling in a promotional challenge case from the Kenner Fire Department. The case involves the fire chief’s decision to deny Joseph Sunseri a promotion to Assistant Fire Chief, following some difficulties he encountered while serving in the position during a “working test period”.

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The Rockland County Supreme Court has ruled that a firefighter who resigns in lieu of being terminated, cannot challenge the grounds for discipline. That decision came in the case of Robert Doremus, formerly a firefighter with the Tallman Fire District.

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