A firefighter with the Fire
Department of New York (FDNY) accused the department of denying her
a promotion and using their subpoena power to search her cellphone
to determine she was the anonymous source
behind a story about another female firefighter who was
graduated from the academy despite failing the running test five
times. The New York Post
reports:
FDNY officials desperately hunted for the source of the
story by using subpoena power to search the cellphone records of
female firefighters.Union boss Steve Cassidy called the FDNY’s actions “disgraceful,”
adding, “It’s reminiscent of the NSA scandal, and it has a chilling
effect on all New York City firefighters and the media covering the
story.”He said FDNY Commissioner Sal Cassano and other fire officials “may
have committed serious abuses of the department’s subpoena
power.”
Why does the FDNY have its own subpoena power? When dealing with
potential arson, it seems they could easily work with the NYPD or a
prosecutor’s office. The allegations of whistleblower retaliation,
if true, ought to force New York City to reconsider the
department’s subpoena power. Even if the allegations aren’t true
(and keep in mind that retaliation for whistleblowers is not
uncommon within public agencies,
like the NYPD), subpoena power is easily abused at great cost
to the victims of that abuse and probably shouldn’t be in the hands
of any more agencies than it has to be.
The union’s lawyer, Ron Kuby, says he’ll be suing the FDNY if it
doesn’t apologize to the firefighter and promote her. The FDNY,
meanwhile, alleges that she committed “a serious and potentially
unlawful act for which severe penalties are warranted” for leaking
“confidential medical and personnel information,” which begs the
question as to why they merely denied her a promotion and haven’t
suspended her or put her on administrative leave. You can be sure
however this ends, New York City taxpayers will likely be paying
for it.
h/t Slammer
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