PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a sex discrimination charge on behalf of a former female firefighter-EMT who claims she was fired based on her gender.
ABC6.com reported that firefighter-EMT Kimberly Perreault, with the Harmony (R.I.) Fire District, said she was fired in January after raising concerns that male and female firefighters were being treated differently.
“Just the way you were treated on scene,” Perreault said. “Someone who has been on the department a week would come in and walk over you, talk over you, not pay attention to you.”
Perreault also said women in the district weren’t provided with turnout gear.
“I was told I didn’t need it,” she said.
Perreault told board members about her concerns at a public meeting last October. Another female member of the department expressed similar concerns.
Perreault was fired in January and the other female member that spoke up in the board meeting was also later fired.
The attorney for the fire district said they haven’t received a formal complaint yet.