![]() ![]() ![]() "It is an uncomfortable, ridiculous situation they're in,” she added. Regina Wilson, president of the Vulcan Society, the fraternal organization of Black firefighters, said that “there is definitely pay discrimination going on and it definitely affects not only and women but many other people in EMS." We will engage on these points more as we proceed in the case.”Ĭity Hall did not immediately comment on the judge’s decision to allow the case to move forward. “These claims are not supported by the facts. “While firefighters and EMS personnel perform essential and vital service for our city, their job duties are different,” a spokesperson for the Law Department said. The FDNY deferred to the city’s Law Department for comment on the case. Leadership of the other EMS union, DC 37 Local 3621, declined to comment for the same reason. The next month, 25 members of FDNY EMS and their unions sued the city and the FDNY, alleging that the diverse employees of FDNY EMS have largely the same job responsibilities as FDNY firefighters, who are paid far more and are far more likely to be white and male than the department's EMTs, paramedics and EMS officers.Īt the time the suit was filed, Oren Barzilay, the president of District Council 37 Local 2507, said the suit was a “historic moment for New York City’s Emergency Medical Servicemembers.”īarzilay declined to comment on Monday’s decision, citing the ongoing nature of the litigation. The Department of Justice informed the workers in November 2022 they had a right to sue. The city has “failed to adjust the pay scales of EMS First Responders to keep pace with the changes to their duties since the City merged EMS with the Fire Department in 1996,” the EEOC finding continued. “Any difference in duties between the EMS First Responders and Firefighters fails to explain the pronounced gap in wages,” the commission's 2021 determination read. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2019 and that body ruled in late 2021 that the city had in fact discriminated against current and former members of FDNY EMS based on sex and race. The workers first filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. But given the nuances and complexities inherent in a putative class-wide employment discrimination suit, for the Court to accept the City’s arguments at this early juncture would amount to ‘improper fact-finding at the pleading stage,’ ” Torres, citing a federal 2021 discrimination suit, wrote in allowing the case to move forward. ![]() “It may well be that distinctions between EMS and Fire First Responders will undermine Plaintiffs’ case at a later stage of the litigation. The suit by members of Local 2507, which represents uniformed EMTs, paramedics and fire inspectors, alleges that the city and the FDNY have discriminated against EMS first responders by not paying them according to their responsibilities relative to those of firefighters, who are paid significantly better. Torres also found that contrary to the city’s arguments, the workers submitted their complaint in a timely manner and met the bar to pursue a class-action claim. District Judge Analisa Torres rejected the city’s arguments that the claim should be dismissed because EMS workers’ and firefighters’ tasks and responsibilities are dissimilar. Members of the FDNY’s emergency medical services bureau and their unions have been given the green light to pursue a class-action lawsuit against New York City and the fire department over claims of discriminatory employment practices, unequal treatment and both race and gender-based bias. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |