The law never sleeps—and the past year has been no exception.
The 2025 assassination of Charlie Kirk has added a major layer of complexity to fire service social media and free speech The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) has new members, and is considering major changes in its regulation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, religious bias/harassment, and LGBTQ protections, while states are adopting their own laws in these areas The courts have clarified when a transfer can be discriminatory (the new standard is tougher for employers). The Drug Enforcement Administration has proposed reclassifying marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3—and if this reclassification occurs, it opens the door to the Food and Drug Administration approving the therapeutic use of marijuana (“medical marijuana”), nationally, with significant repercussions for fire service employers. And the courts have elaborated on new standards for “religious accommodation,” when a religious accommodation is an “undue hardship” for employers.
As a fire service, are we ready?
On September 10, 2025, Danielle Meyers, a firefighter/medic with Canyon Lake (TX) Fire/EMS, was conducting an EMS training session for colleagues when she noticed several of the participants intently studying their cellphones. That’s how she learned that Charlie Kirk had been shot.
Later that day, she posted a Facebook note for her 400 Facebook followers: “Good riddance. Thoughts and prayers to...
A newspaper columnist has been condemned after incorrectly claiming asylum seekers in Dorset are responsible for 44 per cent of sexual offences in the county. Annunziata Rees-Mogg, who was previou...