Federal Court Upholds Decision In Burns Vs Utica Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that dismissed all claims brought against the City of Utica by firefighter Julianne Burns and her Husband Christopher Burns.

Burns claims that she was sexually assaulted by firefighter Michael Knapp at a Utica Fire House in 2010.

In October of 2010, Burns applied for disability benefits claiming that the events caused her to be permanently unable to work as a firefighter.

The application for benefits was denied by the city and that ruling was upheld in March of 2012 by an independent arbitrator who ruled that Burns' claim lacked merit.

The decision by the Court of Appeals dismissed all claims by Burns including a $7 million lawsuit against the City of Utica that Burns filed in Federal Court alleging a variety of Federal Civil Rights and state law claims.