Public Employee Press

Arbiter hoses FDNY over treatment of disabled Paramedic

An impartial arbitrator ruled in May that the Fire Dept. violated the Citywide Contract by refusing to offer a disabled Paramedic in-title and related duties.

The arbitrater awarded Paramedic Roxanne Gunthorpe $29,000 in back wages, the difference between the pay of a Paramedic and an Emergency Medical Technician, the title she had been demoted to as she fought for a reasonable accommodation to her disability.

“This is the second arbitration decision to hold the Fire Dept. of New York accountable under Article IX, Section 9 of the contract for paying disabled employees in title and making accommodations so they can continue doing their job,” said DC 37 attorney Leonard Polletta. “It’s a big victory for us.”

“The decision reinforces the union’s position that when a member sacrifices their health in the service of the city, management should follow the contract and find alternative work that allows them to keep their wages, titles, and benefits,” said Pat Bahnken, president of Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics Local 2507.

In 2000, while Gunthorpe worked a light duty assignment in the Communications unit, FDNY doctors concluded the 16-year veteran was permanently partially disabled, and the agency decided to stop assigning Paramedics to Communications. She faced a stark choice: Return to full duty — which her disability precluded — or retire.

“I was so shocked,” Gunthorpe said. “I am a Paramedic — this is the only thing I know how to do. I got no reasonable accommodations.” She contacted the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and her union and filed a grievance with DC 37 Rep Tracey Ziemba. “I owed it to myself to stand up for my rights and tell them: ‘You can’t push me out — or around,’ ” said Gunthorpe.

Management could have reassigned Gunthorpe to non-ambulance positions, such as telemetry or prison health care. But the FDNY insisted that disabled Paramedics accept a demotion to EMT and a $10,000 pay cut, before reassignment to an administrative position — or go on leave without pay. In July 2000, Gunthorpe went on a forced, unpaid medical leave of absence.

In August 2001, she and several other Paramedics who have a suit pending against FDNY over violations of state and city Human Rights laws returned as Paramedics in an 18-month program. After that, Gunthorpe accepted the demotion to EMT from April 2003 to August 2005; then she was reassigned to Telemetry as a Paramedic.

During the union’s long battle over the FDNY’s reasonable accommodations policy, members have won back pay and legal fees and the BCB has found the agency guilty of improper labor practices for unilaterally devising its own policy instead of negotiating on this issue.

The arbitrator in Gunthorpe’s case concluded that the contract requires FDNY to accommodate disabled employees with work-related in-title assignments, with no pay cuts or demotions.

The arbitrator took into account that of four disabled Paramedics, only Gunthorpe, an African American woman, was demoted, while FDNY accommodated three disabled white male Paramedics, two with assignments in Telemetry and Communications.

“Although it has been a very long process, I appreciate all that the union and Len Polletta have done. I don’t think I could have got through this without them,” Gunthorpe said.