Curiosity Questions

[Jesika]

I am just wondering what you would do if a member of your dept. called OSHA on you as well as tried to sue a majority of the members on your dept. This fire fighter has caused many problems on one particular dept. as well as on another that would not hire him. He has currently moved to the next county over and joined a dept. there. My dept. runs mutual aid with the dept. he now is a member of.
Would you give a heads up to this current dept. or would you sit back and let them figure it out for themselves?
I have some relatives there as well as some good friends and I don't want to see them go through the same stuff some of us had to go through. What would you do?

[Bones42]

It depends, were they justified in calling OSHA and all the rest? Are/were there safety problems being ignored? What was the outcome of calling OSHA and all the rest?

Also, I would expect (hope) that any fire department would contact a new members previous department as part of their standard background check.....course we know that always happens :rolleyes: They do background checks right?

[DrParasite]

Originally posted by Jesika
I am just wondering what you would do if a member of your dept. called OSHA on you as well as tried to sue a majority of the members on your dept. This fire fighter has caused many problems on one particular dept. as well as on another that would not hire him. He has currently moved to the next county over and joined a dept. there. My dept. runs mutual aid with the dept. he now is a member of.
Would you give a heads up to this current dept. or would you sit back and let them figure it out for themselves?
I have some relatives there as well as some good friends and I don't want to see them go through the same stuff some of us had to go through. What would you do?
officially, I wouldn't get involved. you're getting yourself involved in something you have no right getting involved it. if you mention something to a friend on that department, ok, maybe, but not in writing. but i think there are other thing to consider. why did he call? did OSHA say he was right? if he's calling OSHA on a department, there is probably a good reason for it. and he can't be terminated or disciplined for doing that (nor should he). why/who did he sue? did he win? was he right? as for the department that didn't hire him, why not? was it due to him calling OSHA on his old department? or did they just not like him? did they discriminate against him by not taking him because he called OSHA?

sounds like there might be more to the story

[firenresq77]

What were the circumstances, Jesika? Was it a legitimate problem? Need more info to give an opinion.......

[SafetyPro]

Legally, you can't take any discriminatory action against someone for "whistleblowing" to OSHA or any other regulatory agency.

[firefighterbeau]

I would also need a little more info on this situation before giving a final answer on this, but for the most part i believe that eventually the past will catch up with him, and i would stay out of it for as long as i could. Especially the person in question is not with your agency.

[Jesika]

Whistle Blower - A whistle blower is defined as an individual who reports the illegal actions of a company or corporation that is defrauding the government. Although the strict definition of whistle blower requires that the company that is in the wrong must be doing business with the government, and that the whistle blower inform the government of illegal action that has been or is being taken, these days the term whistle blower has been expanded to include anyone who reports crimes that are being committed without the knowledge of the victim.

A whistle blower could report financial fraud, health or environmental violations, or anything else that is illegal and is against public policy. Famous whistle blower cases have included whistle blowers who have informed the government of dangerous chemical dumps that affected the health of people who lived near the illegal dump sites.


This is what I have been able to find on the whistleblower act. To me it does not apply here.

He called over some issues with the emergency vehicles and protective gear. Nothing came of those issues reported. The dept. did get in trouble for some minor problems at the station which were fixed or repaired and no fines came of it.

I was not going to make anything in writing. I was going to make a call to my brother and give him a heads up.

A lawyer was hired by this gentleman. He came to a couple of our meetings. The fire fighter soon dropped the lawsuit and nothing more came of that one. It has happened one other time. Now, it is to the point were he is just stating that he is going to do it, but nothing more.

The dept. he tried to get on did not hire him due to him not living in their area.

The dept. he is with now, he moved to their area. They want to make him the training officer because he is an instructor. Right now they currently have three instructors on their dept. whom they will not make training officer. One was but they did not like they way she conducted the trainings and removed her from that position.

Jesika

[Bones42]

Based on what you posted above, I would let it drop. There were problems within the department, they got fixed. Sounds like he is/was worried about his/FF's safety....and that's a good thing.

[Jesika]

I guess ya'll would have had to have been there and gone through it to understand why I am concerned for my family and friends on the other department. They shouldn't have to go through what we went through multiple times.

[PFire23]

Jesika from what you typed above it would seem that this person filed legitimate complaints regarding personal gear and apparatus issues as you yourself stated that there were problems that were duly noted and rectified. Sometimes it takes someone being the "bad guy" and speaking up when all others are willing to just carry on the way it has been done for years. It's easy to cast stones when that one person goes against the grain, but obviously there were issues or there would have been nothing that the department had to fix. Sounds like you are getting involved in something that really doesn't need your involvement. As for your family members on that individuals current dept., if they have nothing to hide and are doing no wrong then they really have nothing to worry about do they? If you call to "warn" them about this individual what exactly are you hoping to accomplish? By bad mouthing and possibly treading into the area of slander........ what is your goal?? Don't fall back on the excuse of protecting the innocent cuz I won't buy it. Is there a personal vendetta going on here? Do you, yourself have something against this individual?

I guess I'm failing to understand why you would even want to involve yourself.

Oh and just another thought, if this individual really was as bad as you say, filing "false" allegations and all and stirring the pot whereever he goes ......... wouldn't that come out in a background check???? Don't they call previous departments to get references???

[Jesika]

As stated before the issues that this gentleman called upon were found to be false. There was and is nothing wrong with the apparatus nor the PPE. The current dept. did not do a background and last I knew they have not done any background checks for any of their current members. There was not a background check done on myself when I turned in an application. (I did not join because I got a new job and had to move.)

All I wanted to know was if I was wrong in calling to let my brother know what we all went through when this gentleman was on our dept.

I have no problem with him as a person, as a fire fighter his acts are questionable on scenes. His decision making skills can be lacking as well as his interior attack skills. He is extremely book smart, but does lack on the experience side. He was one of my instructors when I went through FFI and FFII. When it came time to do the practicals in class we all got quite frustrated with how they were setup and done. Which I understand does happen. I have been on many fires with him and will probably be on many more.

[E229Lt]

IMHO, You did the right thing. Many people will "blow the whistle" only to cover their ass for the actions they will take, or not take, in the future. Once a complaint is filed, members can assume themselves protected and do as they please. Should a Department prefer any charge following the complaint he will only accuse them of being punitive.

I suggest the tables be turned and he be written for any and all minor infractions and when he runs to OSHA, let the department call it punitive.

There are scammers among us. Don't dump your garbage on the next guy without a full inventory of the contents.

[Truck106]

I think you're doing the right thing by giving the other dept. a heads up on this creep. I'd do the same thing if there was a rat in our dept.if he can't talk to an officer or higher about the problem.And has to go behind peoples back then he doesn't belong in that dept.

[Jesika]

I want to thank you all for your thoughts and opinions on this situation. I have decided that I am going to make a call to my brother. Nothing in writing though. Then he can take it from there if he feels it needs to go further.

No calls were about why he is no longer a member of this department. There also were not any calls made as to why the other department did not hire him.

I did find out however that when he went in to apply he stated that he was still on this department and that he would continue to be on it for as long as he could. Now that is just plain wrong in my opinion.