ALBANY – First Amendment protections against retaliation were violated in the case of two volunteer firefighters who were harassed and ultimately dismissed for objecting to the quality of their equipment and training, a federal judge has ruled.
Brothers Joel and Ricky Shanks went through appropriate channels while making constitutionally protected complaints about matters of significant public concern, the safety of operating procedures at the Village of Catskill Fire Company, concluded Northern District Judge Gary L. Sharpe.
