Tag Archives: social media

The ongoing saga of Boston firefighter Octavius Rowe suffered another setback as the Massachusetts Court of Appeals upheld his 2018 termination for making a series of racist and homophobic social media posts. Rowe, who served as vice president of Boston’s Vulcan Society, claimed he had been singled out for discipline for his posts while the city ignored comparably offensive posts by white firefighters.

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for October 24, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss a lawsuit challenging the termination of a union president from Massachusetts for wearing his dress uniform to a firefighter funeral, a Virginia Beach firefighter facing ...

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for August 22, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss the termination of a Miami firefighter for offensive social media comments he made in a group chat relative to the murder of a Miami-Dade police ...

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In this episode of Fire Law Roundup for August 15, 2022, Brad and Curt discuss an amended lawsuit claiming 91 Gadsden, Alabama firefighters were retaliated against for filing an FLSA suit; a suit by a Rochester, New York firefighter who ...

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The president of a Wisconsin International Association of Firefighters local was terminated last week over a social media post that criticized understaffing over the Memorial Day weekend. Spencer Nett, president of IAFF Local 5026, was terminated by the Dells-Delton EMS Commission on August 4, 2022.

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In this episode, Brad and Curt discuss the third lawsuit arising out of the Kansas City (MO) triple fatal apparatus accident; the suspension of a Pennsylvania volunteer fire company over racist remarks; a Houston investigation into a social media post ...

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Today’s Burning Question: Our volunteer fire department has our own Facebook page and the fire-police have a page they created on their own. Please correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t the Facebook page belong to the creators, not the fire department? In other words, the fire department cannot make the fire-police get rid of the page, can they?

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A Boston firefighter who was fired last year over incendiary social media posts has filed suit to challenge a state civil service ruling that upheld his termination. Octavius Rowe was fired by the Boston Fire Department on April 30, 2018 following a lengthy investigation.

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A Nevada man who ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor of the town of Fernley has filed suit against a firefighters’ union that he claims defamed him during the campaign. Ryan Hanan filed suit last month accusing IAFF Local 4547, North Lyon County Firefighters Association, of defaming him on Facebook by posting false statements about his service as a firefighter.

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A veteran Boston firefighter has been suspended over a social media post that depicted a man carrying a decapitated head. Octavius Rowe, a 15 year veteran member of the Boston Fire Department, was placed on paid administrative leave on October 2, 2017.

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A Tulsa firefighter who was terminated earlier this year for ignoring an order to report for an internal affairs interview, is now suing the fire department for wrongful termination. Greg Chapman was fired in January after he failed to appear for an interview concerning a derogatory comment he posted about a viral video.

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A Houston firefighter has been placed on administrative duties as the department investigates offensive anti-Islamic posts on his personal Facebook page. The unidentified firefighter allegedly made the posts last month drawing the attention of KTRK TV Channel 13, who in turn brought them to the attention of the fire department.

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Firefighters in Queensland, Australia are under investigation for creating a Facebook “poll” to rate which of their female colleagues would be best in bed. According to The Courier-Mail, several female firefighters who were targets of the poll have been transferred and an outside investigation is now underway.

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A second federal court lawsuit has been filed over the firing of two members of Howard County Department of Fire & Rescue for their social media comments on gun control. Mark Grutzmacher, a volunteer firefighter with Howard County, filed suit ...

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