SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A federal judge tossed a lawsuit filed by a 911 dispatcher after an investigation said she caused a 5-minute response delay leading to man’s fire death.
Syracuse.com reported that Mary Beth Pazaras maintains she did nothing wrong in sending firefighters to the November 2012 blaze. She blamed firefighters for not responding to her dispatch, the judge said. U.S. Army veteran Larry Gillette, 54, died in the blaze.
Pazaras sued after the 911 center said she was at fault for the delay. She was given a written reprimand and was passed over for a promotion.
An investigation concluded that Pazaras didn’t properly alert firefighters to send fire trucks to the scene. She did alert firefighters that the victim was struggling to breathe and said she got no immediate response, according to the report.
She delayed sending fire trucks for 4 minutes and 54 seconds after a co-worker declared the situation a fire. An arbitrator ruled that her mistake may have been fatal.
“Her failure to act in accordance with normal protocols may have contributed to a man’s death,” arbitrator Gordon Mayo said.
Pazaras then filed a gender discrimination complaint but that was later rejected. After the rejection, she filed another lawsuit saying her punishment for the fire was retaliation for the discrimination complaint.
U.S. District Judge David Hurd ruled there was no proven connection between the complaint and her punishment, according to the report.
The judge noted that her superior had also been scolded for the incident and that the department planned to reprimand her before the discrimination complaint was settled. Hurd granted the center’s request to dismiss the lawsuit.