Paramedic fired for her diabetes wins disability discrimination suit

A federal jury found that a former paramedic for the Wayne Township Fire Department was discriminated against after she was fired because of her diabetes.

Kristine Rednour, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12, was awarded $223,500 in a discrimination lawsuit filed in February 2013, about a year and a half after the Fire Department fired her because of her illness and told her she should not have been hired in the first place, according to a federal complaint. The suit alleged that Rednour’s termination violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.

After a four-day trial and three hours of deliberation in federal district court in Downtown Indianapolis, the jury of eight people decided late Friday that Rednour is entitled to $123,500 for lost wages and benefits and $100,000 for emotional distress.

The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, alleged that Rednour is considered disabled under the ADA’s definition. Kevin Betz, of the Indianapolis law firm Betz and Blevins, which represented Rednour, said federal law requires employers to “engage in an interactive process” with employees with disabilities about how they can be accommodated in the workplace.

In this case, officials decided to fire Rednour despite her qualifications for the job and a recommendation by the Fire Department’s medical doctor that she was able to work, according to court records.

Bloomington attorney Christine Zook, who represented the Fire Department in the lawsuit, did not return a call seeking comment Monday.

The defense argued that Rednour failed to prove her former employer violated federal law by firing her because she did not request any kind of accommodation in the first place, according to court documents. Rednour testified that she did not need it.

The Fire Department hired Rednour as a reserve paramedic in February 2009 and as a full-time paramedic a few months later, knowing that she has Type 1 diabetes. During the course of her employment, Rednour’s blood-sugar levels dropped on two occasions while she was on duty — once while she was driving and again while she was caring for a patient in the back of an ambulance, Betz said. She drank some orange juice and Pepsi to raise her levels to normal.

After the second incident, which happened in June 2011, her medic partner told her that he did not want to be paired with her anymore. Rednour told her supervisor and other Fire Department officials what had happened, and she was told she could not return to work without approval from the agency’s medical director, court records say.

Dr. Steven Moffatt, of the Fire Department, examined Rednour and decided that she could return to work the following month, but her duties would be limited. She would not be allowed to drive departmental vehicles for two to four weeks until her insulin doses were adjusted properly, according to court records.

But Deputy Chief Rick Scott had more questions about Rednour’s medical condition. Court records say officials decided to keep Rednour on paid leave despite Moffatt’s recommendation on how to accommodate Rednour’s disability. Nearly two weeks after she was supposed to return to work, Rednour was fired.

“(Her diabetes) was not a risk to anyone. It was not a risk to Kristine Rednour. It was not a risk to anybody’s safety in the Fire Department ... or anyone in the community to allow that type of reasonable accommodation,” Betz said. “But they went ahead and terminated her.”

According to court records, Scott told Rednour that he had done additional research and found that people with Type 1 diabetes should not be hired by the department. Rednour, Scott told her, “must have fallen through the cracks.”

Fire Chief Gene Konzen also told Rednour that she had provided excellent patient care as a paramedic, but her diabetes was not covered by the department’s liability and automobile insurance, court records say.

Sandra Blevins, also of Betz and Blevins, said medical experts testified during the trial that Rednour could have been allowed to wear a glucose monitor that would alert her and everyone around her anytime her blood-sugar levels drop.

“The important thing is that individuals with disabilities and employers who employ individuals with disabilities owe a duty to each other to have an ongoing dialogue about the issue of a reasonable accommodation and how to facilitate that to retain their employment, if it’s possible to do so safely and effectively,” Betz said.

Betz said Rednour did adjust her insulin dosage, as recommended by Moffatt, and has not had any issues for the past four years. She now works as an emergency room paramedic at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital.

Call Star reporter Kristine Guerra at (317) 444-6209. Followher on Twitter: @kristine_guerra.