An ongoing ageism lawsuit said in a new court filing that New York Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh ignored her staff’s calls for action against deadly e-bike batteries and refused to publicly support banning them from NYCHA housing out of fear of “political winds.”
Court papers say that last summer, shortly after becoming acting fire commissioner, Kavanagh did not support Chief Joe Jardin’s “request to publicly support ”NYCHA’s ban on having lithium-ion powered bikes and scooters inside buildings.
Kavanagh’s decision was based on political concerns that such a ban would impact low-income delivery persons, the lawsuit says.
When Jardin and Chief Frank Leeb organized a symposium to educate FDNY members and other fire departments about the dangers of lithium-ion battery fires that September, Kavanagh apparently did not invite members of City Hall and skipped the event altogether.
“Despite Kavanagh’s recent media campaign concerning the dangers of lithium-ion batteries, for years she suppressed and did not support action within the FDNY to press for regulations and bans, and even suppressed a campaign to promote greater awareness of the risks,” the lawsuit states.
An FDNY spokeswoman blasted the allegations against the 40-year-old Kavanagh, calling them “meritless.”
“She has been relentless in sounding the alarm about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries for both the public and FDNY members,” spokeswoman Amanda Farinacci said. “She is a national leader on this topic, and any allegation that she has not paid this dangerous issue appropriate attention is preposterous.”
But Jim Walden, the chiefs’ lawyer, said Kavanagh’s current stance against e-bike battery fires is not enough to make up for the past.
“She can’t whitewash what happened in 2020 and 2021,” Walden said. “She stood idle for the better part of two years while lithium-ion related fires skyrocketed and the deaths from those fires increased significantly from that period.”
The e-bike battery bombshell is the latest in a string of allegations against Kavanagh in the ageism suit, where chiefs claim that being too old led to their harassment, vilification, and demotion.
