Appellate court rules against ex-firefighter

An appellate court has upheld a ruling against a former Palm Beach firefighter who sued the town, accusing it of negligent supervision and conspiring to defame him, among other allegations.

A judicial panel with Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal affirmed a Palm Beach County Circuit Court decision in favor of the town and 14 town officials and employees who also were named as defendants in Jason Weeks’ suit.

The appellate court found the defendants were immune from claims for defamation and that the lawsuit, filed in December 2015, was filed a year after a two-year statute of limitations had expired.

A former battalion chief for Palm Beach Fire-Rescue, Weeks was demoted in October 2011 and fired in December 2012 after an internal investigation found he used town equipment, while on town time, to work on a website critical of pension cuts.

Weeks was an 18-year department veteran. He said he built the website at thenFire Chief Bill Amador’s direction. The town fired Amador in January 2011 for his role in the website’s creation.

A town investigative report found Weeks “engaged in acts of insubordination, disloyalty, intimidation and retaliation against residents, the council and the town manager.”

In addition to the town, the 14 individuals named as defendants included Peter Elwell, who was town manager at the time of Weeks’ demotion and termination, and Kirk Blouin, former public safety director who became town manager in February.

In 2014, the town settled a whistleblower lawsuit with Weeks for $300,000.