The case filed by Zackery Tyndall against the Berlin Fire Company and members Bryon Trimble and Derrick Simpson in U.S. District Court was dismissed last week.
“The resolution is confidential,” said Jim Otway, Tyndall’s attorney. “I can state that it was resolved to my client’s satisfaction.”
The closure of the case comes three months after a federal court judge denied a motion to dismiss filed by the attorneys representing the fire company. In her opinion then, Judge Ellen Hollander wrote that the defendants claimed that what Tyndall called harassment was just teasing.
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I hope he got every penny. Those men, and I use that word lightly, destroyed that young man's career!
ReplyDeleteWell deserved.....truth prevailed! Now are they still saying horseplay???? I hope people realize how hard it is to get a case to Federal Court and then to have it go the level that it can not be thrown out to settlement! Z. Tyndall had his stuff in order and a well deserved "w"! I believe the Berlin Fire Company has a lot of wrongs to make right,,,,no denying that they were wrong.
ReplyDeleteIt's about time other fire companies start paying for the ways they treat their people. And the ones they have chased away or made lives hell.
ReplyDeleteWho was it that said VFD's don't answer to anybody?
ReplyDeleteThey're their own company. And nobody wants to go after them. The shit the members do to someone is unbelievable. They'll literally drive you out of town if you go against them. Most companies are also filled with family members. It can get ugly when groups come at you. Not to mention the cops in the companies mess with you. Good ol boy system at its best. Seen alot of damn fine firefighters and EMTs chased out of fire companies for standing up to these guys.
DeleteAnd just what punishment was handed down to Trimble? Nothing, notta, nothing. Hold the FD responsible, they deserve nothing.
ReplyDeleteIt is time for the leadership to change. The "good old boys days are over." I believe the organization should be investigated and their tax exempt status should be cancelled. No one should contribute anything to this organization. This settlement is admission of guilt!
ReplyDeleteEveryone has known they were guilty, the FD and Trimble et al have never denied that. A man died because of thier actions, 2nd time Trimble has killed citazens with his stunts. I wouldn't give these clowns 2 cents.
DeleteWord is on the street the Berlin Fire Dept was served with another law suit with similar complaints as Mr. Tyndall's. It appears there are a lot of members in the Berlin fire dept. that are nothing but a liability! They better clean house & start at the top or there won't be a fire dept in Berlin.
ReplyDeleteAnd starting at the top should be with David Fitzgerald. He is a crook and a back stabber.
DeleteWe'll if people doing the right thing stick together and MAN UP and yes I said it MAN Up! But no they put their heads down and say nothing. Ask Tyndall how many so called friends stood by him?...... BFC has a lot of members who sit back and do nothing and allow a group of bully lead them. If you take them and look at them individually they are not strong or smart people but put them in a group and they become somebody! That is true in many groups of people! How trimble is still able to hold office in Berlin and work in OC is beyond me. Zack you did the right thing as hard as it was and at such a young age . You did what men twice your age could not do.....you did the right thing. You stood up for what was right and Jeff stood up for what was right. If this world had more Jeff's and Zack's it would be a better place,! You two are what true HERo stuff is made of!!! God Bless!
ReplyDeleteTrue, Trimble is still an officer. The Town and Gee Williams has had thier number all along. Karma BOYS, its real.
ReplyDeleteThis is so disgusting! The BVFC is a complete disgrace to the fire service everywhere. Zac, you got what you finally deserved. The Trimbles, Simpsons, Holloways, all have become the downfall. FFEMT7410 retired.
ReplyDeleteAnd you jumped on the gravy train, so far what's your settlement?
DeleteI heard from a VERY good source, 4,350,000 yes, thats million
ReplyDeleteSettlement reported to be over 4 mil. Zac, you deserve it. Shame Brian and Derrick don't have to pay it. Maybe now, a civil suit can be filed against them. Berlin's finest.
ReplyDeleteZach is an excellent firefighter and paramedic, he didn't deserve this.
ReplyDeleteFrom the beginning he was honest, told the truth, and just wanted the harassment to stop, so he could do his job. BFC officers can't stand anyone that may be better than they are. If the public only knew.
DeleteWho is responsible for the settlement, the fire company, their insurance company, the town? This is one reason that the government entities on the shore should be tasked with providing EMS services to the citizens and others of those counties. All of these "volunteer" fire companies with the exception of Cambridge and Pocomoke cities, employ ems staff that is paid for by the counties and it citizens and employed by the volunteer companies. There is no oversight on how the funds are spent, who is employed, how one is paid. The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act prohibit employees of volunteer fire companies from volunteering where they are employeed. This must not apply to the shore as Hebron,Pittsville, and Parsonsburg have members that are being paid by the county to provide ems are also volunteering in some cases as high ranking officers in the vfd's.
ReplyDeletePocomoke and the Rescue Fire Company could not provide adequate volunteer resources ( ie- they failed to provide the service, failed to respond) and they turned the service over to the cities to provide. Cambridge saw it was not the cash cow they expected and in fact dumped the city run ems service into Dorchester counties lap.
It is time for a system run like Dorchester County. An entity that is responsible to the citizens of the county and a professional management team, not run as now by the good ole boys who want the money provided by ems, have no management skills with regard to personnel issues.
AMEN
DeleteAs a long time resident of Berlin,I am not surprised by this outcome. The BFC kept saying the truth would come out, I guess they thought that if they just kept denying any wrong doing the public would be fooled. Well the truth is out, the officers of the BFC did a horrible thing to not just a fine young man but to the whole community. The BFC continues to ask for donations, and to cry about the Town of Berlin withholding funding. Why should the current administration be given any funding? No more funding from the citizens, Town, County , or State should go to the BFC until Trimble, Simpson and Fitzgerald have been removed from the BFC. Ocean City Fire Department should follow suit and dismiss Trimble and Simpson form employment. Trimble and Simpson thought it was so easy to fire a good employee lets see how they deal with unemployment and ridicule. Berlin Fire Company has harassed many of their employees, it is time for it to end. Tyndal has gotten some compensation for his harassment, now it is time to punish the aggressors. If Trimble, Simpson,or Fitzgerald were good men they would have already stepped down and resigned. How much of the donated money the BFC asks for has been spent in legal/lawyer fees?
ReplyDeleteExactly! Ask, just what disapline was ever given to Trimble & Simpson? NONE! therefore the entire Department should be held accountable. These bunch of Clampets are not big enough to accept responsibility, and should be shut down. Truly a disgrace to anyone that wears the badge.
ReplyDeleteWell sounds like you have better odds of becoming a millionaire if you join the Berlin Fire Co than if you played the lottery. If it is true they don't plan to oust the idiots that played apart in the harassment of Mr. Tyndall & another lawsuit has been served on them.
ReplyDeleteI left the BFC soon after this happened. I could not belong to such an inbred bunch of hillbilly's. They have a generation of old malcontents that don't want anyone in thier playbox. Trimble is a 3rd generation of nasty, defiant, miserable individuals. He cares about one thing, himself. Simpson, his "uncle Phil", the current Chief, another loser, looks out for him, otherwise, he really doesn't know better. The Town of Berlin took the right position, and distanced themselves. Since then, they folded, however held SOME funding, until a leadership change. Fitzgerald and Trimble still there, weak leadership on behalf of the FD and the town. Life goes on.
ReplyDeleteI just saw this story, miss one day of SBY NEWS, a lot passes you by. Notice there is not one positive rebuttal from the "boys" in Berlin. They must either have much more restraint then the local farmen or be 100% guilty.
ReplyDeleteI think the citizens of Berlin and the Town have a right to know exactly how much of their donated funds went to not only defending the BFC but defending Simpson, Trimble and Fitzgerald since the same attorney represented all of them. Obviously the BFC still sees nothing wrong with their behavior otherwise they would have required them to seek their own counsel instead of providing one for them. Attorneys don't run cheap! If I were the Town I would not continue to fund this dysfunctional organization. The BFC wanted to stand alone and didn't want to be told how to discipline their people and look what happened....a lawsuit that could have been prevented. They are grown up bullies. I wonder how they would feel if someone treated their children the way they treated Zach? It's time to grow up boys. Face the public and apologize for ruining that boys life. If I had to bet, I would bet that Zach would give all the money back just to have it not happen in the first place.
ReplyDelete9:34 .....
ReplyDeleteSo true to have put a young man in that position! When you back someone up against a wall they either stay and get bullied or them come up fighting!!!!! Well Zac you won this fight!! The citizens of Berlin can learn alot from you and should THANK YOU for not having their tax payer money be spent funding that kind of behavior. We teach our CHILDREN not to be bullies what about GROWN ASS BERLIN FIRE COMPANY MEN AND WOMEN????? Has anyone from BFC said "Zac I AM SORRRY we Allowed these men to put you through HELL????
What is the source of the money that paid this settlement? If it is tied to Berlin or government in any way and therefore, taxpayer money, disclosure is necessary. Does anyone know the answer?
ReplyDeleteFire deoartment's all over the shore are "old boys clubs"..
ReplyDeleteThey have fired other people in the last couple of years for no good reason also. It all falls back on Fitzgerald doing what he wants when he wants.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for a department that is paying an undisclosed amount for settlement; they manage to find enough money somewhere to hire 4 more full time paramedics on top of the 8 full time employees they already have.
BFC like many organizations that receive money from local government , state funding and grants should have open books because it is not their money per say. From what I remember from some of the problems with the town BFC thought and still think it is their money to do as they please with. Just like when they stated they would not provide service to citizens inside of Town limits if they did not get funding from the town. We received letters from BFC stating this.....Well they might have purchase trucks, equipment and stuff but they did not get enough by doing those little breakfast to buy a truck . Those trucks may be tagged in BFC name but our tax dollars at a tune of $600,000 per year bought those trucks. So how dare them threaten to not service the in town citizens.
ReplyDeleteBFC was told to remove Fitzgerald trimble and simpson or no funding......well they have funding and they are still in office!! As a citizen those three need to go!