A female emergency medical technician for American Medical Response of Connecticut (AMR), represented by Nina Pirrotti, Joshua Goodbaum, and Jordan Sala, has recently filed a lawsuit against the company.
Anna Broggi alleges that she was sexually assaulted by a co-worker and has accused the company of sex discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, and hostile work environment on the basis of sex. The lawsuit was recently covered in the Connecticut Law Tribune.
While the complaint alleges that co-worker, Anthony Salerno, admitted to sexually assaulting Broggi, and that she shared that information with AMR, the company failed to investigate her complaints or provide her with adequate protection. To the contrary, AMR allowed Broggi’s assailant to remain her co-worker. Nina states that “The onus was completely on her to protect herself.”
Broggi continued to press for an investigation into these very serious allegations. When AMR finally did investigate her complaint, months later, the complaint alleges that Chief Operations Manager Timothy Craven, told her to “calm down” and that “it’s not that big of a deal” as she sobbed while retelling the sexual assault. Salerno was later placed on administrative leave for two weeks. Thereafter, he returned to work.
The lawsuit alleges that AMR has a history of allowing sexual harassment and gender discrimination. One allegation states that five female employees reported that an EMT sexually harassed and assaulted them. While the assaulter had initially resigned, AMR later invited him back after the women who reported him left the company. Another claims that out of 17 supervisors at AMR, only three were women, all of whom allegedly had sexual relationships with male supervisors.
Recently, AMR hired a former deputy chief of the New Haven Fire Department, who the lawsuit claims has a history of sexual harassment and assault.
“What kind of message does that send to the women who work at AMR?” Nina said of AMR hiring Wadley. “Who is going to feel sufficiently supported to come forward and raise concerns about sexual assault?”
Nina commented on her client’s courage and tenacity throughout this ordeal, culminating in the filing of this complaint: “Even though each door was slammed in her face, she continued to open others until her voice was heard,” says Nina.
The lawyers of Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Fitzgerald & Pirrotti, P.C. have been advocating for employee and civil rights throughout Connecticut for more than 45 years. From our offices in New Haven, we provide award-winning representation in all aspects of Connecticut employment law.