The city's first female Fire Department Commissioner Laura Kavanagh has been slapped with a bombshell age discrimination suit that alleges she demoted, ousted, forced into retirement or retaliated against 15 top older department staffers, including chiefs.
EMT Arnaldo Rodriguez wants to be made a firefighter, which he was on his way to becoming in 2013 before an FDNY chief recently demoted by Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh ordered him to stay home and not return until contacted.
Adams, who tapped Laura Kavanagh as the city’s first woman fire commissioner last October, said he’s impressed with her performance so far and that she has a handle on the department, despite two high-level firings last week and the demotion of veteran FDNY brass.
“We have no idea what’s going to happen next, but something is going to happen,” one FDNY union official told the Daily News. “We’re just ordering more popcorn.”
Judge Rachel Kovner denied a temporary restraining order against the demotion of assistant chiefs Michael Gala, Joseph Jardin, and Fred Schaaf late Thursday.