An appeals court ruled Wednesday that a former FDNY fire investigator can move forward with his lawsuit against the city — in which he claims smoke eaters rigged a probe into the deadly Harlem blaze during the filming of Edward Norton’s “Motherless Brooklyn.”
Then-Fire Marshal Scott Specht claimed in a 2019 suit that he was yanked from his role as lead investigator on the case because he refused to sign off on a report blaming a faulty boiler — rather than the flick’s production crew — for the March 2018 blaze that took the life of firefighter Michael Davidson.
A Brooklyn federal judge tossed Specht’s case in December.
But on Wednesday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated his claim that he was retaliated against for blowing the whistle, saying it’s protected by the First Amendment.
“Specht’s reports of these actions to outside agencies therefore implicate matters of public importance, as they relate to possible governmental malfeasance, public safety, as well as to the public,” the ruling from the three-judge panel reads.
Specht, who has since retired, reported the alleged cover-up to the city Department of Investigation, to the district attorney’s office and to the media.
He said that he believed the 773 St. Nicholas Ave. fire was caused by work being done by the production crew. Specht also claimed that the FDNY pushed the alternate t൲heory to protect the production company since film projects make the city a lot of money.
In tossing his suit, the Brooklyn federal judge ruled that Specht’s whistleblowing wasn’t protected since he made the statements as an FDNY employee rather than as a private citizen.
But the Second Circuit overruled that, concluding “Specht spoke as a citizen, rather than merely as a public employee.”
The appeals court, however, did not reinstate two of Specht’s remaining claims against the city including claims for retaliation under the State Civil Service Law and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“This ruling memorializes the notion that those speaking publicly on matters of public safety not only have a right to do so but are providing a vital public service,” Specht’s lawyer, Peter Gleason, said. “Scott Specht withstood the threats and pressures of the highest echelon‘s within the FDNY who were hell-bent on covering up the death of firefighter Michael Davidson.”
City Law Department spokesman Nick Paolucci said, “We’re disappointed by the ruling, but confident that he will not prevail on the First Amendment claims that have been remanded.”
Lawyers for Norton’s production company have previously reiterated the FDNY’s findings fingering the boiler.
“The production had no contact with that boiler at any point in time, and never filmed in the cellar of the building,” one of the lawyers said at the time. “There has been a lot of misinformation circulating over the past year regarding the cause of this fire. We look forward to finally setting the record straight.”
