Weller v. Paramedic Servs. of Ill., Inc.

297 F.Supp.3d 836

Joshua WELLER, Plaintiff,

v.PARAMEDIC SERVICES OF ILLINOIS, INC., a corporation, Village of Lincolnwood, a municipal corporation, and Jane and John Does #1–10, individuals, organizations, corporations, or other legal entities whose names are presently unknown, Defendants.

17 C 6301

United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.

Signed March 14, 2018

Daniel Zemans, Law Offices of Daniel Zemans, LLC, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.

Brian Richard Holman, Dennis H. Stefanowicz, Jr., Holman & Stefanowicz, LLC, Chicago, IL, Molly Maureen O'Reilly, John Francis O'Reilly, O'Reilly Law Offices, Wheaton, IL, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

CHARLES P. KOCORAS, District Judge:

Before the Court are a pair of motions seeking dismissal of portions of Plaintiff Joshua Weller's ("Weller") Amended Complaint, brought by Defendants Paramedic Services of Illinois, Inc. ("PSI") and the Village of Lincolnwood ("Village"), pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). For the following reasons, the Court grants the Village's request to dismiss Count VIII, but we order the dismissal to proceed without prejudice. We deny PSI's motion as to Counts I, II, III, IV, VI, and VII. We grant PSI's motion to dismiss Count IX, without prejudice, as well as Weller's request to amend his complaint in keeping with Count IX's dismissal. It is so ordered.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The following facts are taken from Weller's Amended Complaint and are assumed to be true for purposes of these motions. Murphy v. Walker, 51 F.3d 714, 717 (7th Cir. 1995). The Court draws all reasonable inferences in Weller's favor. Tamayo v. Blagojevich , 526 F.3d 1074, 1081 (7th Cir. 2008).

On or around October 28, 2010, Weller began working for PSI as a firefighter/paramedic, where he would go on to receive regular raises and positive performance reviews for the next six years. PSI, an Illinois company headquartered in Schiller Park, provides contractual paramedic and fire services, primarily to municipal and fire protection districts. On or around December 8, 2015, PSI transferred Weller to the Lincolnwood Fire Department ("LFD").

a. Harassment of Weller & Firefighter/Paramedic Chloe Martinez

After learning he was to be transferred to LFD, but before he began working there, Weller was allegedly told by Lieutenant Bryan Graham ("Graham") that firefighter/paramedic Chloe Martinez ("Martinez") was a "massive bitch" and that Weller should report her to his superiors if she caused any problems. Martinez was the only woman on Weller's shift at LFD. Weller contends that, immediately upon starting at LFD, he realized that his PSI coworkers' sole problem with Martinez was that she was a woman in a fire department.

Weller alleges that he heard Deputy Chief Ray White ("White") refer to Martinez as a "whiny bitch." White also made routine jokes in front of Martinez, referencing "BBC," a pornographic abbreviation for "big black cock." Weller asserts that he heard Lieutenant Cesar Canchola regularly refer to Martinez as "the bitch," Lieutenant Jeff Szczech ("Szczech") call her "useless," and Battalion Chief James Barnett ("Barnett") "brazenly" talk to Martinez about her breasts. Weller characterizes such harassment of Martinez as "widespread behavior that was effectively sanctioned by the company."

Before she began working for PSI at LFD, Weller alleges that Martinez was interviewed by LFD Chief Michael Hansen ("Hansen"), who told Martinez that he feared she would cause sexual tension and eventually have a sexual relationship with a coworker. Hansen told Martinez not to try to seduce anyone at work. On Martinez' first day at LFD, Battalion Chief John Jaeger asked her if she was sleeping with her then-Lieutenant, a rumor that firefighters Keith Dawson ("Dawson") and Joe Jarzembowski ("Jarzembowski") later admitted to have started.

Weller "made it clear" to his coworkers and supervisors that their behavior was unacceptable. In response to Weller's efforts to treat Martinez with respect, Barnett described Weller as "Chloe with a penis," and Dawson referred to Weller as Martinez' guard dog. PSI leadership and employees also spread "entirely false rumors alleging that Weller was having a sexual affair with [Martinez]...." This despite Weller's coworkers' knowledge that this was untrue and that Weller remained engaged to a woman he publicly calls his wife. Weller also alleges that he was subjected to comments along the lines of whether he had impregnated Martinez, requests to bring in videos of he and Martinez having sex, and, in violation of a supposed on-duty cell phone policy, pornographic images texted to Weller with questions about whether they depicted the type of sexual activity he and Martinez engaged in.

Weller alleges that supervisors were aware of the ongoing misbehavior and "join[ed] in on harassing and retaliating against" him. On or around May 12, 2016, Barnett told Weller that White claimed that Martinez and Weller had sex in the parking lot that night. Three days later, White repeated the "blatantly false statement" to Graham.

Weller contends that the lies about his relationship with Martinez became so widespread that Weller's fiancée heard of them, leading to problems in their relationship and "severe emotional harm to [Weller]." In May 2016, Weller emailed Hansen directly to address the retaliation and harassment he was enduring. Weller alleges that someone from PSI then went into Weller's email account to delete the email.

Brian Holman ("Holman"), PSI's legal counsel, has admitted to Weller that he has seen the email.

Weller followed up with Hansen in-person the same week, and Hansen assured him that the matter would be addressed at an officers' meeting. Such a meeting never happened, and the behavior at LFD worsened. Shortly after speaking with Hansen, Weller's co-worker, Chris Ritzler ("Ritzler"), pushed Weller's bed next to Martinez', covering both beds with a single blanket. Weller reported the incident to Graham, his supervisor at the time, but Graham refused to investigate or address the incident. Later on, Ritzler admitted to his actions but faced no discipline.

In June 2016, Weller called into LFD and told Dawson that he would not be coming in the next morning. Dawson then turned to Martinez, in front of their coworkers, and said, "Your boyfriend just called off. What are your plans tomorrow Chloe?" The next month, on or around July 11, 2016, Weller told Barnett that Martinez would be coming in that night to pick up some equipment, to which Barnett replied, "Ask her if she wants to have a threesome."

b. Lieutenant Jeff Szczech's Drug Abuse

Almost immediately upon starting at LFD, Weller heard rumors of Szczech's "well-known abuse of prescription narcotics." Barnett told Weller that Szczech had been using pain pills for years due to a back injury and that Barnett periodically had to wake Szczech up while on duty, "including while out on calls." Weller also heard about Szczech's drug problem from Martinez and Battalion Chief Jim Aageson ("Aageson"). Szczech was out on disability leave from back surgery when Weller began at LFD, but his drug problems became evident upon his return to duty.

Weller states that he and his colleagues, who are trained to recognize individuals under the influence of narcotics, routinely saw that Szczech was unfit for duty. Szczech often slept at his desk and moved too slowly for the demands of the job. In one instance, Weller and Aageson timed Szczech taking over five minute to get dressed in firefighting equipment; the process is expected to take ninety seconds or less. Weller also alleges that Barnett walked by the bay floor and commented to Weller and others multiple times that "he had monitored Szczech's NORCO (hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen) supply and seen that Szczech was taking more than one should while on duty." Barnett explained that monitoring Szczech's abuse was the only way to keep Weller and the rest of the shift safe.

With Szczech still allowed to serve "as a primary patient caregiver, the leading company officer on Engine 15, and co-pilot the Tower," Weller and others expressed to Barnett their fears about the risk of Szczech's drug abuse to them and the public. Barnett replied that the issue had been reported to Hansen and White multiple times with no result. Barnett instructed Weller and his coworkers to take photographs and/or video to document Szczech's problems.

On or around March 12, 2016, Weller saw Szczech taking medication. Weller was scheduled to work with Szczech on the engine, but he was concerned about his personal safety as well as that of the public. He approached Barnett with his concerns, who reiterated that PSI would not take action without proof. Throughout the day, Szczech was lethargic, slurred his words, and periodically dozed off while on duty.

On or around April 6, 2016, Engine 15 went to the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy ("NIPSTA") for a training drill. The lead NIPSTA instructor expressed concerns about Szczech's behavior, noting that he nodded off during training and was unable to stand after drills. Weller texted Barnett about this incident, who responded to Weller that he was in Hansen's office and claimed to have shown Hansen the text. PSI ultimately did nothing about the incident.

On or around July 11, 2016, Szczech was responsible for driving the reserve ambulance, which received a call to attend to a seven-year-old girl. While Szczech was initiating care, Weller saw him begin to nod off. Weller also observed Szczech get into the driver's seat to drive the girl to the hospital. That night, Weller noticed that Szczech left out two pill bottles with his name on them, one each for Norco 10–325 and Xanax. Weller took photos of the bottles and sent them to Dawson, the EMS Coordinator. Dawson did not respond.

Weller alleges that it is against Illinois public policy for a public safety officer to abuse narcotics while on duty. Weller also notes that it...