A firefighter in Lincolnwood filed a lawsuit against his former employer, Paramedic Services of Illinois (PSI), “a private company contracted by the village for firefighting services.” In the suit, the firefighter, Josh Weller, alleged “abusive behavior by PSI employees.” Recently, the suit was dismissed after the “two sides reached a confidential settlement,” according to attorney Brian Holman. Holman represented PSI during the legal proceedings.
A firefighter in Lincolnwood filed a lawsuit against his former employer, Paramedic Services of Illinois (PSI), “a private company contracted by the village for firefighting services.” In the suit, the firefighter, Josh Weller, alleged “abusive behavior by PSI employees.” Recently, the suit was dismissed after the “two sides reached a confidential settlement,” according to attorney Brian Holman. Holman represented PSI during the legal proceedings.
In a statement, Holman said, “The case was dismissed, with prejudice, as a result of a confidential settlement reached by the parties.”
The suit itself was filed by Weller back on August 30, 2017. In addition to the allegations that Weller endured abusive behavior from PSI employees, his suit later listed his “former chief, deputy chief, and battalion chief as defendants.” According to Weller, he was hired by PSI in October 2020, though wasn’t placed in Lincolnwood until December 2015. During his time in Lincolnwood, he was allegedly “harassed, and discriminated and retaliated against for defending a female coworker and reporting what he called a supervisor’s drug use.” In July 2016, he was fired.
In terms of harassment, Weller argued in his suit that he witnessed a “pattern of harassment,” specifically “male coworkers calling his female coworker explicit vulgarities.” He also witnessed the same male coworkers describe his female coworker as “useless,” and they talked “to her brazenly about her breasts.” They also allegedly told her “she should not try to seduce anyone at work,” and asked “if she was sleeping with her coworkers.”
Weller stood up for his female co-worker, but as a result, Weller alleged in his suit that his male co-workers began calling “him the woman’s guard dog, spread rumors that he and the woman were having an affair, asked Weller if he had impregnated her, asked for videos of the two having sex and texted him pornographic images asking if the images depicted the type of sexual activity Weller and the woman engaged in.”
In addition to the harassment from his co-workers, Weller also alleged that he began to notice and even complained about the “ongoing abuse of prescription drugs by a superior officer while on duty that put the health and safety of patients, coworkers and the public at risk.”
Lincolnwood is an Illinois suburb and one of the “few municipalities…to outsource firefighter staffing.” Officials of the suburb claim outsourcing “saves the village money on pensions and benefits for the workers.”
Sources:
Former Lincolnwood firefighter settles lawsuit against private company
Ex-Lincolnwood Firefighter Settles Whistleblower, Harassment Suit
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