Firefighters and members of the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association Local 137 are suing the city of Jamestown over consistently leaving management positions such as battalion chief, captain, and lieutenant unfilled with permanent appointments, and instead filling them with temporary ones, even while there is not an emergency situation.

A verified petition, petitioner’s affidavit, and petitioner’s memorandum of law have been filed with the Chautauqua County Clerk’s office late Tuesday with Benjamin McLaughlin, a captain in the Jamestown Fire Department and member and president of the Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association Local 137, as the petitioner. By the city not filling these management positions besides temporary appointments, the documents state that the city — specifically Mayor Kim Ecklund and Interim Fire Chief Ryan Roush — is in violation of Article V, Section 6 of the New York State Constitution, and Civil Service Law Sections 61(2) and 64. A pending arbitration is scheduled for Thursday regarding the city’s contract with the firefighters’ union, but Charles DeAngelo, the attorney representing the fire department, wrote in the complaint that the case was being filed in state Supreme Court as well. In addition to asking state Supreme Court Justice Grace Hanlon to require the city to appoint and assign captains, lieutenants and battalion chiefs, DeAngelo is asking for an award of back pay and benefits, court costs and attorneys fees. .

DeAngelo wrote that state Civil Service Law Section 61(2) states that “no person shall be appointed, promoted or employed under any title not appropriate to the duties to be performed and, except upon assignment by proper authority during the continuance of a temporary emergency situation, no person shall be assigned to perform the duties of any position unless he has been duly appointed, promoted, transferred or reinstated to such position in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and rules prescribed thereafter. No credit shall be granted in a promotion examination for out-of-title work.”

According to a memorandum of law filed by DeAngelo , Civil Service Law section 64 provides limited and carefully circumscribed rights to temporary appointments, which DeAngelo argued cannot occur to cover routine recurring vacancies which are non-urgent in nature. Article V Section 6 of the New York State Constitution also notes in part that appointments and promotions in civil service positions “shall be made according to merit and fitness ascertained, as far as practicable, by examination which, as far as practicable, shall be competitive.”

Another document filed by DeAngelo shows the amount of shifts worked by firefighters in the city acting out of class as Battalion Officers or Lieutenants. In January 2025 there were 116 shifts, February 2025 111 shifts, March 2025 110 shifts, April 2025 131 shifts, May 2025 133 shifts, June 2025 137 shifts, July 2025 143 shifts, August 2025 126 shifts, September 2025 137 shifts, October 2025 146 shifts, November 2025 180 shifts, December 2025 161 shifts, and January 2026 150 shifts. In total the document says there were 1,781 total shifts and 21,372 hours acted out of class in the last 13 months.

“A number of Battalion Chiefs, Captains, and Lieutenants positions at the Jamestown Fire Department have not been filled and Captains, Lieutenants, and Firefighters have been continually asked to perform the duties of Battalion Chiefs, Captains and Lieutenants on a regular ongoing basis,” McLaughlin states in the petitioner’s affidavit. “They have been asked to act in positions for which they have not been properly appointed pursuant to Civil Service law to higher ranking positions.”

McLaughlin also states that Interim Fire Chief Ryan Roush supports filling these positions and has requested that Ecklund do so, and recognizes, along with city firefighters, that the battalion chief, captain, and lieutenant functions are critical and must be performed at all fire or emergency scenes.

The verified petition notes that positions within the city fire department, including these management positions, are all civil service positions subject to competitive civil service examinations, and there is in existence current, active, and valid civil service promotional lists for these positions. Members of the JPFA Local 137 have taken the respective civil service tests and are on current valid lists, along with having been sent for the required training to be promoted, the court filing states.

The petition also states that the city has been regularly making assignments of Captains, Lieutenants, and Firefighters to serve out of their respective titles for the fire department, which is a practice that has continued to the date that the petition was filed on Tuesday. The assignments are made when the permanent, assigned higher level position holder has retired following a minimum of one year’s notice to the city and to cover regularly recurring openings in the schedule, including vacations and personal leave. Acting Battalion Chiefs, Acting Captains, or Acting Lieutenants performing the same duties as permanently appointed ones also do not receive all of the related pay and/or benefits that come with that position.

“By failing and refusing to fill the positions, the City of Jamestown has essentially transferred the performance of these functions, which had been performed by the former battalion chiefs, captains, and lieutenants, to current captains, lieutenants, and firefighters out of title in violation of Article V, Section 6 of the New York State Constitution and Civil Service Law Sections 61(2) and 64,” McLaughlin’s affidavit states.