[nfbmi-talk] vi firefighter wins suit

[joe harcz Comcast]

Firefighter, city of St. Paul settle discrimination suit for $528K

By Brady Gervais and Tad Vezner Pioneer Press

Updated: 11/23/2011 11:25:56 PM CST

 

The city of St. Paul has settled firefighter William Eldredge's discrimination claim for $528,432 - the second-largest employment lawsuit payout in the

city's history.

 

"The city of St. Paul really stepped up to the plate here," said Eldredge's attorney, Adrianna Shannon, noting the city also agreed to retrain staff and

supervisors about state and federal disability laws and inform employees of their rights under those laws. "This is a victory for the law itself."

 

Shannon read a statement from her client, in which Eldredge wrote, "The good that has come out of this protracted struggle has been not only vindication

for me personally but it is also a victory for human rights, the rights of disabled people, of veterans and of workers."

 

The St. Paul City Council approved the settlement unanimously Wednesday afternoon.

 

Eldredge, who hasn't fought a fire in about seven years because of diminished eyesight, sued the city over disability discrimination, citing his forced

"light duty," multiple termination notices and the city's "refusal to provide reasonable accommodations" of his sight problems.

 

The payout settles all of Eldredge's claims against the city, said City Attorney Sara Grewing.

 

"Finally, justice is going to be served for Bill Eldredge, who for too many years was persecuted by the city," said Chris Parsons, secretary of International

Association of Fire Fighters Local 21, the St. Paul firefighters union.

 

Of the settlement, $300,000 will go

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toward attorney fees. Eldredge also will work as the department's health and wellness coordinator, a position he will hold until he retires in 2013, Grewing

said.

 

The position isn't being created because of the settlement, said St. Paul Fire Marshal Steve Zaccard. The department has wanted a health and wellness coordinator

for years, he said. Eldredge, who's been on various light-duty assignments, will receive the equivalent of a deputy chief's salary, which is from $3,031

to more than $3,900 every two weeks, he said.

 

The legal back-and-forth between the city and Eldredge, who joined the department in 1994 as a firefighter and EMT, began in 2004 after a vision examination

during a routine medical screening showed a measurement of 20/200 in his right eye and 20/100 in his left.

 

Two years earlier, he had been diagnosed with a form of macular degeneration, later identified as Stargardt's disease. The disease caused a blind spot in

the center of his field of vision.

 

As a result, Eldredge is unable to read small print without magnification, has some driver's license restrictions and experiences central-field-of-vision

distortion, the lawsuit said. Despite his diagnosis, he successfully performed his duties, the lawsuit said.

 

After the test, Eldredge learned he was being terminated, the lawsuit said. When he asserted his rights to a veterans preference hearing under the Americans

with Disabilities Act, he was no longer terminated.

 

He was later placed on light duty, which resulted in less pay, loss of overtime hours and decreased retirement entitlement, the lawsuit said.

 

Eldredge claimed the assignment was a visually strenuous audio/visual position in the training and development section of the department.

 

In November 2006, Eldredge received notice again that his employment was being terminated in 60 days "based on his disability," according to the lawsuit.

When he requested a hearing, his termination was postponed.

 

In April 2007, Eldredge filed his first charge of disability discrimination with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity

Commission.

 

The legal dispute between Eldredge and the city stretched for years, going all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

 

Shannon, Eldredge's attorney, noted that the case is one of the first to be resolved following federal legislative action in 2009. Prior to 2009, the U.S.

Supreme Court, through a series of decisions, placed a greater burden on those seeking to sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Shannon said.

 

"Basically, courts interpreted the term 'disabled' with such a high standard that they had to prove either that they were unable to do the job or they weren't

disabled....It was an internal paradox."

 

In response, Congress "restated the original intent of the law," and the Eldredge case was one of the first that was ready for trial after those measures

took effect, Shannon said.

 

"It's an outstanding statement to attorneys that practice this area, that the ADA is alive and well," Shannon said.

 

Brady Gervais can be reached at

bgervais at pioneerpress.com

or 651-228-5513. Tad Vezner can be reached at

tvezner at pioneerpress.com

or 651-228-5461.

 

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_19401640