Paper already half written
- Review the Annual Subscription Rates case study.
- Research a separate case study in which you feel the fire department’s actions were negligent.
You must use a resource other than your textbooks for research.
Refer to Chapter 10 page 289 in Managing Fire and Emergency Services for additional examples of case studies. - Write a 1,000 to 1,300-word paper based on your research. Include the following:
Define negligence.
Summarize the case study you researched.
Determine if the fire department is negligent in the case study you analyzed and justify your reasoning.
Outline the similarities and/or differences between your case study and the Annual Subscription Rates case study.
Determine if the fire department was negligent in the Annual Subscription Rates case study and justify your reasoning.
Compare and Contrasting Negligence Case studies
Wilbert J. Fletcher III
Political, Ethical, and Legal Foundations of Emergency Services
FS402-02 | 2101C February 2021 Term
February 23, 2021
As I begin to compare and contrast the two cases presented illustrating negligence I will begin with the first article shared by the course material. This case study examines a fire department in an adjacent jurisdiction that provides structural firefighting services to its community via a subscription service. Both Commercial and residents that have property in this identified area have the opportunity to subscribe to service. This subscription is fee based and renews on a annual bases. This reminds me of when the fire service first begun and depending on who you contracted with would determine who extinguished your fire. The case at hand utilized the subscription service to fund the department. The Money collected from the service was used to recruit, train, and equip the volunteer firefighters with the necessities to extinguish the fire should one arise. The funds also supplied the maintenance and supplies for the apparatus.
The cliff notes of this case consist of the fire department arriving to find a residential structure on fire. There was confirmation that no huma life was inside. Upon this confirmation the department allowed the house to burn down because they were not subscribed to the service. They did however protect the neighboring structures since they are a part of the subscription service. They protection of the exposures speculate to be greater than the cost to extinguished the one. The action of the department caused a outrage and gained national attention. The members of the department achieved the expectation of the department but fell short of the publics. The push was that the acts by the individuals under the umbrella of the department where negligent.
Negligence is failure to use reasonable care, resulting in damage or injury to another. (2021) Negligence claims must prove four things in court: duty, breach, causation, and damages/harm. Generally speaking, when someone acts in a careless way and causes an injury to another person, under the legal principle of “negligence” the careless person will be legally liable for any resulting harm. (2019)
As mentioned Duty is one of the elements needed to prove negligence. Duty in a negligence claim, is the first step to be reviewed to identify if there was a legal duty of care. The legal duty of care can be described as a motor vehicle operator having the duty to operate a vehicle safely and properly. Another example would be a Obstetrician being present while there patient is in labor. They have the duty to care and intervein to there knowledge level.
The next the element to review is proving breach of duty. It is the courts intention to review and see if the defendant breached there duty by doing (or not doing something) that a normal sensible or (reasonably prudent person) would do in ordinary circumstances. Reasonably prudent person is a legal term or standard that set the bases of a normal reasonable person. This gives the court a base line to hold people accountable to. Should a defendant do or preform an activity that any regular person ( jury of peers) would deem as unreasonable. The caveat is that the defendant also has to know at the time that their actions could cause injury.
What many attorneys call the third element is Causation. Causation requires that the person stating the claim prove the defendants negligence was the cause of the injury. This is often shown in cases such as using a cellular device and driving. This was highlighted in the current Tiger woods case. The first thing many of the reporters asked was if he was texting and driving. The POI quickly eliminated that effecting the pending investigation by saying it was under such. In EMS cases the defense likes this Causation because if a person was suffering from any ailment it would be nearly impossible to attribute it to the EMT and not the underling issue.
Lastly, the element considered is damages. This is where the claimant can be compensated for there injury. While monetary compensation is typical there are other forms of compensation such as property. Not as common but possible.
Summarize the case study you researched.
For this paper I revied a lawsuit that was revived against two separate fire departments. The lawsuit held both departments liable for firefighter’s death in a 2002 house fire. A appeals court in the state of New York reinstated a lawsuit against the Manlius (NY) and Pompey Hill (NY) fire departments in the death of a volunteer firefighter battling a Pompey house fire in 2002.
This Case
The state Supreme Court Appellate Division in Rochester – in a 4-1 split decision – concluded the law granting personal immunity to volunteer firefighters does not apply to the fire departments themselves or to department officials.
The lawsuit stems from the death of Fayetteville (NY) Firefighter Timothy Lynch in a fire March 7, 2002, at a home on Sweet Road in Pompey. Manlius (NY) Firefighter John Ginocchetti also died in that blaze.
Lynch’s widow, Donna Prince Lynch, sued Onondaga County, New York and then county Fire Coordinator Mike Waters in 2003. The county responded to that lawsuit by suing the Pompey Hill Fire District, the Pompey Hill Fire Department, Assistant Chiefs Richard Abbott and Mark Kovalewski, the village of Manlius, the Manlius Fire Department, Deputy Chief Raymond Dill and homeowner Joseph Messina.
State Supreme Court Justice Donald Greenwood dismissed the claims against the fire departments and the chiefs in 2009 based on the immunity argument.
But the Rochester appellate court ruled last week that Greenwood erred. The majority concluded the section of state General Municipal Law granting immunity to volunteer firefighters in the performance of their duty did not apply to the fire departments or the department officials.
The plain language of the statute reflects the Legislature’s purpose in enacting that law was “first, to immunize volunteer firefighters from civil liability for ordinary negligence and, second, to shift liability for such negligence to the fire districts that employ them,” the majority wrote.
The court rejected the fire departments’ contention – and Greenwood’s earlier decision – that the law only allows fire departments to be held liable for volunteer firefighters’ negligent operation of motor vehicles. The court concluded the Legislature – in enacting the statute in 1934 – meant to expand, not restrict, the liability of fire districts.
“In other words, the Legislature sought to assure that there would be some liability on the part of the fire districts where previously there had been some doubt,” the majority wrote.
Justice Eugene Fahey, in a lone dissent, agreed with Greenwood that the immunity law applied to the departments and their officials as well as the volunteer firefighters. He concluded the fact the Legislature carved out a motor vehicle exception indicated the lawmakers’ intent was to grant immunity to the fire districts in the first place.
This is the second time Greenwood’s rulings in the case have been modified or overturned on appeal.
In 2007, Greenwood dismissed outright the Lynch lawsuit. But in February 2008, the appellate division reinstated the part that charged a violation of General Municipal Law and accused Waters of failing to comply with the state’s emergency command and control system.
The appellate court concluded then that there was an issue for trial as to whether Waters had a supervisory role at the fire scene.
The county responded to that ruling by suing the fire departments and their officials. The county contends that if there was any negligence on Waters’ part, it was less than that of the fire departments and their officials and those defendants should pay any damages.
Because there was no appeal of Greenwood’s separate decision dropping the case against Dill, he remains out of the lawsuit under the appellate court ruling.
Determine if the fire department is negligent in the case study you analyzed and justify your reasoning.
Outline the similarities and/or differences between your case study and the Annual Subscription Rates case study.
Determine if the fire department was negligent in the Annual Subscription Rates case study and justify your reasoning.
References
Fire Department Officers Liable in Double Firefighter LODD. The Company Officer.
http://thecompanyofficer.com/2011/01/06/fire-department-officers-liable-in-double-firefighter-lodd/
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Merriam-Webster. Negligence. Merriam-Webster.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/negligence
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Proving Fault: What is Negligence? Findlaw. (2019, November 12).
https://www.findlaw.com/injury/accident-injury-law/proving-fault-what-is-negligence.html#:~:text=Negligence%20claims%20must%20prove%20four,liable%20for%20any%20resulting%20harm
.
. [Purdue University Global Bookshelf]. Retrieved from
https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books/978-0-87326-787-8/
I chose these references because they are data based and reliable. The fist is taken from a well known circulation that is respected by Members of the industry. The second source comes from a global resource that has be verified for many years as a provider of definitions. Reference three is out of a Law journal that can be found in the North Carolina Central Law library, which would lead me to believe it has been vetted and respected by members of that profession. The last reference is the resource that Purdue global has identified as a learning tool and resource for students. All these marital are vetted and supported by members of there respective profession.