Tag Archives: fourth amendment

Suit Against FDNY Over Delayed Response to Shooting Dismissed

A lawsuit against FDNY and NYPD alleging a failure to promptly come to the aid of a shooting victim has been dismissed by a federal court. Migdalia Ortega was shot by her boyfriend on May 9, 2022 in Queens.

Bridgeport Incident Raises Fourth Amendment Questions

A Bridgeport, Connecticut man is threatening to file suit against firefighters because they opened the glove box in his car in the aftermath of a vehicle accident. Tony Barr contends that firefighters violated his constitutional rights following the accident last weekend.

Fire Law Roundup for July 29, 2024

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for July 29, 2024, Brad and Curt discuss the settlement of a fatal ambulance crash in Texas; criminal charges brought against a former Ohio fire chief who harassed a female firefighter; a federal ...

Court Rejects Louisiana Firefighters’ Claim That Fingerprinting is Unconstitutional

The US District Court for the ED of LA has ruled that a fire department does not violate the 4th Amendment by requiring all personnel to submit to fingerprinting. Five firefighters with the East Bank Consolidated Special Service FPD filed suit last year, objecting to the district’s plan to use fingerprinting technology to clock in and out of work.

Pawtucket Settles Firefighters Locker Search Case

The City of Pawtucket has agreed to pay five city firefighters $1,000 each for unlawfully searching their firehouse lockers. Firefighters Noah LeBlanc, Stephen Garlick, Manuel Benevides, Scott McDonald, and Steven Como filed suit last December alleging a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.

Court Dismisses Chicago Firefighter’s Discrimination Claims But Retaliation Claims May Proceed

The discrimination claims brought by a Chicago firefighter have been dismissed, but the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois will allow her claims of retaliation to proceed. Lee Ann McKay filed suit against the city, the retirement board and five individual officers in 2021.

Fire Law Roundup for December 11, 2023

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for December 11, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss a lawsuit challenging the Cleveland Fire Department’s physical abilities test as discriminatory against women; an FLSA overtime suit in Brookline, Massachusetts; a locker search case ...

Firehouse Locker Search in Rhode Island Leads to Federal Suit

The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit on behalf of six Pawtucket firefighters accusing the city, the fire chief and a city police officer of violating their constitutional rights by conducting a locker search in September. Firefighters Noah LeBlanc, Stephen Garlick, Manuel Benevides, Scott McDonald, and Steven Como brought the action by and through the ACLU’s attorneys.

Fire Law Roundup for February 13, 2023

In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for February 13, 2023, Brad and Curt discuss a jury verdict holding the Perth Amboy Fire Department (NJ) liable for a series of sexual assaults perpetrated thirty years ago by a firefighter on ...

Louisiana Firefighters Claim Fingerprinting is Unconstitutional

Five Louisiana firefighters have filed suit claiming the fire department violated their civil rights last year by ordering them to be finger printed. Christopher Perre, Kevin Crossen, Mitchell Arbaugh, Michael Giarrusso and Brandon Barthel filed suit against the East Bank Consolidated Special Service Fire Protection District.

Ohio Appeals Court Rules Drug Evidence Found During Cause and Origin Admissible

The Court of Appeals of Ohio has ruled that drugs and drug paraphernalia found by a fire investigator during a cause and origin determination, is admissible. That decision reverses a trial court ruling that granted the property owner’s motion to suppress the evidence because it was obtained without a search warrant.

Minnesota Medics Entitled to Qualified Immunity on Excessive Force Claim

The US Eighth Circuit has joined a growing number of circuit courts holding that fire and EMS personnel who restrain a combative patient should not be evaluated under the Fourth Amendment excessive-force analysis that applies to police officers. Rather, fire and EMS personnel are “acting as medical responders, not as law enforcement officers,” and as such may be acting in an objectively reasonable manner when administering a sedative to a patient.

Seventh Circuit Quotes Fire Chief’s “Gag-A-Maggot” Comment In Ruling in Department’s Favor

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a district court ruling holding that the City of Loves Park, Illinois did not violate the Constitutional rights of a woman by forcing entry into her home, seizing 37 cats, and condemning her home. A key point in the ruling was the comment of Loves Park Fire Chief Philip Foley that the smell coming from the home could "gag a maggot."

Search Warrant Required For Fire Inspections Absent Owner Consent

A lawsuit filed against local officials in West Virginia over a warrantless entry into a commercial occupancy is headed to trial following a ruling that an administrative search warrant is required to conduct fire inspections when the owner refuses to permit entry.

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