FDNY Retaliates Against EMTs Who Spoke Out During Pandemic: Suit

NEW YORK CITY — Paramedic Megan Pfeiffer told reporters about fellow EMTs who slept in cars and at their stations so as not to infect their families with novel coronavirus, about her anxieties over the limited supply of N95 masks, and how she wept when she came home from work every night.

The television journalists who interviewed Pfeiffer thanked her for her service, but the FDNY took away her uniform, according to a new lawsuit.

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Pfeiffer is one of four EMTs who believe the Fire Department of New York retaliated against them for speaking out about working conditions during the pandemic by restricting their access to patients and the ability to earn overtime.

The EMS 2507 Local paramedics — Pfeiffer, Elizabeth Bonilla, Alexander Nunez, and John Rugen — filed suit in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, arguing the FDNY violated their right to free speech and due process.

Rugen, an EMS Local 2507 union officer, was put on restricted status after the FDNY first suspended him without pay for 30 days for allegedly violating its social media policies, the complaint says.

New York City's Law Department did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment, but spokesperson Nicholas Paolucci issued a statement to NPR.

"The FDNY respects the First Amendment rights of its employees but those rights must be carefully balanced to respect the privacy rights granted under the law to patients receiving emergency medical care," Paolucc told NPR in an email.

"We don't litigate these matters in the press."

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