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From The Kentucky Post:
Ex-dispatcher sues Boone County
She was fired over deafness in one ear
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mike Rutledge
Post staff reporter
A former emergency dispatcher who has been deaf in her right ear since age 3 has sued the Boone County Public Safety Communications Center, or PSCC, which terminated her last year about five weeks after she was hired.
Boone County PSCC representatives told Andrea Fitzgerald of Fort Wright she was being let go so the PSCC "could avoid a 'potential liability in the future,' as they perceived her hearing loss to be a disability," according to the federal lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court at Covington.
Fitzgerald, 33, has full hearing in her left ear, but none in her right. She briefly worked as a police officer in Springdale, Ohio, before accepting the Boone County position, and "has extensive law enforcement training, including training as a dispatcher," according to the suit.
She had been officially acknowledged as a "class leader" when she graduated a year earlier from Kentucky's Criminal Justice Telecommunications Training Academy in early 2001, her lawsuit states.
She also earned "a near-perfect score of 97" in March 2002 in Spanish for a telecommunication course she took at Eastern Kentucky University, with high grades in other classes there. She also drew praise from superiors in Boone County for her "intelligence and abilities," the suit stated.
Her lawsuit argued the PSCC violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, in firing her. The PSCC provides emergency dispatching for all of Boone County from the Florence Government Center, but is separate from the Boone County and Florence city governments, said its acting director, Mike Stem.
Stem said he was not able to comment on the lawsuit.
Fitzgerald now is working in the Public Safety department at Northern Kentucky University.
Her suit asks that she be reinstated to the dispatching position with back pay and fringe benefits, plus compensatory damages for emotional distress, damages for harm to her reputation, punitive damages and attorney fees.
In mid-February of 2002, a month before she was hired, Fitzgerald informed the PSCC "of her disability/perceived disability and had a pre-employment physical," the lawsuit states.
Yet she "received no notice from defendant Boone County PSCC that would have suggested to her that her work had been unsatisfactory in any way."
The lawsuit was not specific about what future liability a complete hearing loss in one ear might create.
Fitzgerald was unavailable to comment Friday. Her lawyer, Peggy Barker, said the ADA applies even though Fitzgerald contends her hearing loss did not affect her ability to do the job.
The law protects people who are discriminated against because others regard them as having a disability, Barker said.
"It's one of the situations where people let their unfounded fears see a problem where one doesn't exist," Barker said.
When told of the PSCC's concern about her hearing, Fitzgerald contended it was not a problem.
But she said she wanted to keep her position and "requested a reasonable accommodation, but that request was denied by PSCC," which informed her that her "hearing condition poses a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals," according to the suit.
Publication Date: 07-17-2004
Ex-dispatcher sues Boone County
She was fired over deafness in one ear
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mike Rutledge
Post staff reporter
A former emergency dispatcher who has been deaf in her right ear since age 3 has sued the Boone County Public Safety Communications Center, or PSCC, which terminated her last year about five weeks after she was hired.
Boone County PSCC representatives told Andrea Fitzgerald of Fort Wright she was being let go so the PSCC "could avoid a 'potential liability in the future,' as they perceived her hearing loss to be a disability," according to the federal lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court at Covington.
Fitzgerald, 33, has full hearing in her left ear, but none in her right. She briefly worked as a police officer in Springdale, Ohio, before accepting the Boone County position, and "has extensive law enforcement training, including training as a dispatcher," according to the suit.
She had been officially acknowledged as a "class leader" when she graduated a year earlier from Kentucky's Criminal Justice Telecommunications Training Academy in early 2001, her lawsuit states.
She also earned "a near-perfect score of 97" in March 2002 in Spanish for a telecommunication course she took at Eastern Kentucky University, with high grades in other classes there. She also drew praise from superiors in Boone County for her "intelligence and abilities," the suit stated.
Her lawsuit argued the PSCC violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, in firing her. The PSCC provides emergency dispatching for all of Boone County from the Florence Government Center, but is separate from the Boone County and Florence city governments, said its acting director, Mike Stem.
Stem said he was not able to comment on the lawsuit.
Fitzgerald now is working in the Public Safety department at Northern Kentucky University.
Her suit asks that she be reinstated to the dispatching position with back pay and fringe benefits, plus compensatory damages for emotional distress, damages for harm to her reputation, punitive damages and attorney fees.
In mid-February of 2002, a month before she was hired, Fitzgerald informed the PSCC "of her disability/perceived disability and had a pre-employment physical," the lawsuit states.
Yet she "received no notice from defendant Boone County PSCC that would have suggested to her that her work had been unsatisfactory in any way."
The lawsuit was not specific about what future liability a complete hearing loss in one ear might create.
Fitzgerald was unavailable to comment Friday. Her lawyer, Peggy Barker, said the ADA applies even though Fitzgerald contends her hearing loss did not affect her ability to do the job.
The law protects people who are discriminated against because others regard them as having a disability, Barker said.
"It's one of the situations where people let their unfounded fears see a problem where one doesn't exist," Barker said.
When told of the PSCC's concern about her hearing, Fitzgerald contended it was not a problem.
But she said she wanted to keep her position and "requested a reasonable accommodation, but that request was denied by PSCC," which informed her that her "hearing condition poses a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals," according to the suit.
Publication Date: 07-17-2004