A Kansas City firefighter who admitted to causing the death of three people by crashing a firetruck nearly received a $1 million settlement before city officials rejected it at the last moment. 

Dominic Biscari faced backlash in Missouri after he sued for unpaid wages following his suspension by the fire department due to his guilty plea to charges of involuntary manslaughter. 

The firefighter was charged with recklessly operating the firetruck, running a red light, and crashing into an SUV in December 2021, resulting in the deaths of Jennifer San Nicholas, 41, Michael Elwood, 25, and pedestrian Tami Knight, 41. 

Biscari was re-assigned to desk duty after the crash and was not allowed to drive a truck again, but after city leaders said they planned to fire him when he was with charges in February 2023, he and his firefighter’s union filed employment lawsuits. 

He stopped being paid after taking an Alford Plea to the charges soon after, which allowed him to maintain his innocence while avoiding a jury trial – which could have resulted in up to 12 years in prison – and instead he was sentenced to three years’ probation by a judge. 

Despite backlash to the plea, Biscari and the firefighters’ union Local 42 forged ahead with their lawsuits, and he was set to be paid $915,000 in a settlement from the city. 

But this week, the Kansas City Council voted to reject the settlement agreement, deciding that it was ‘not appropriate’ to pay Biscari the huge sum. 

‘A tragedy shouldn’t lead to a windfall for someone,’ Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said after voting down the deal. 

The settlement that would have netted Biscari almost $1 million was presented to the city’s leadership last week, which brought protests and anger from the community. 

A number of residents spoke out against granting Biscari the settlement in the week before the council rejected it, including an emotional plea from the owner of a restaurant where two of the victims of the crash worked. 

Laura Norris told the council in a hearing on Tuesday that the settlement ‘flies in the face of justice for the innocent victims’, and urged them not to approve it. 

‘He walked away from that accident after killing three people, and it was reckless. It was absolutely unnecessary,’ she said. 

Authorities said Biscari was almost 20mph over the speed limit when he raced through a red light that had been red for 16 seconds with his sirens on, and a judge in a civil case found he lied to investigators about details of the crash, per FireRescue1.  

‘If you’re going to spend nearly $1 million, please do it on public safety, not for workers’ comp,’ Norris questioned. 

‘And for what injury? We weren’t really aware of (Biscari) being injured.’ 

The council entered a closed session hours after Norris’ testimony, and emerged to cheers as they said they would not be awarding the firefighter the money. 

‘At this point, this committee finds it not appropriate to resolve the litigation,’ Lucas said. 

‘Instead, we will hold the item off docket, which, in council parlance, largely means the ordinance is rejected, and we will then continue to hope for the best for all parties involved, but rejecting this item today.’ 

In a brief statement after the vote, the mayor added that he ‘supports all city employees but also supports accountability for the harm they commit. The proposed legislation did not do so. 

‘Mayor Lucas continues to extend his condolences to those grieving the loss of their loved ones and friends,’ his office said. 

Lucas admitted he is unsure what the next steps look like for Biscari as he technically remains a city employee who could return to being a firefighter, but insisted that ‘neither the committee nor the council’ plan to revisit his settlement. 

‘Someone remains an employee of Kansas City without resolution today, but I hope we have more steps in the future that frankly are common sense,’ the mayor told Fox4. 

‘Common sense to me suggests that in addition to extending our condolences to those who lost their lives tragically several years ago, we also make sure that everyone else in Kansas City is as safe as possible from harms that could be otherwise predictable. And I think that’s all I’ll say on that.’ 

The rejection of the settlement came after an arbitrator previously ruled in early 2024 that Biscari deserved backpay and benefits for the time he spent suspended after taking the Alford plea the year before. 

The arbitrator argued that Biscari deserved no more than a three-day unpaid suspension for causing the three deaths and should have his record expunged, and also ordered the city to pay Legal 42’s legal costs. 

The city appealed that decision, alleging that the arbitrator overstepped their authority, with the appeal one of the items that would have been settled by Biscari’s $915,000 settlement. 

Another case will focus on Biscari’s workers compensation claim for ‘injuries’ he sustained in the crash, which have not been specified, and both items are set to continue in court.