Court: City Of Miami, Fire Chief Shielded In Defamation Case Involving Black Firefighter

By CBS Miami Team

August 25, 2022

An appeals court Wednesday said the City of Miami and Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban are shielded from defamation allegations in a lawsuit stemming from a 2017 incident in which a Black firefighter's family photos were defaced and a string shaped like a noose was placed over one of the photos.

Firefighters David Rivera, Kevin Meizoso, and Justin Rumbaugh filed the lawsuit over comments that Zahralban made in a news release and news conference that implicated them in placing the noose over the photo, according to Wednesday's ruling by a panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal.

The firefighters said they were not involved in the noose incident and alleged in the lawsuit that Zahralban's statements falsely portrayed them as "racists who were responsible for placing the noose over the defaced photos, causing them irreparable harm," the ruling said.

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