New York City EMS Workers and Unions Granted Class Status in Race and Sex Bias Lawsuit

On Tuesday, September 24, 2024, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres granted a motion to certify a group of emergency medical services (“EMS”) workers of the EMS Bureau of the Fire Department of the City of New York (“FDNY”) as a class in their lawsuit against the city alleging discriminatory pay practices, suppression of wages, and denial of employment opportunities on the basis of sex, gender, and/or race in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the New York State Human Rights Law, and the New York City Human Rights Law.

The lawsuit was first filed on December 7, 2022 in the Southern District of New York by three unions and 26 emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics on the EMS side of the FDNY. Since 1996, the FDNY has functioned as an integrated department maintaining two Bureaus of first responders – EMS, and fire. According to the complaint, both the EMS-side and fire-side of the FDNY respond to medical emergencies and provide emergency services at major building fires. However, the fire-side of the FDNY is almost entirely male and white, while the EMS side is predominantly non-white and has a larger percentage of women. 

The suit alleges that the EMS-side first responders are paid less than their white, male counterparts. Examples of the pay bias include entry-level EMTs on the EMS-side receiving a starting base salary of $39,386 while entry-level fire-side first responders’ starting base salary is $43,904, the suit says. After five years, their base salaries are $59,534 and $85,292, respectively. 

In addition to the pay disparity, further bias appears in other aspects of the EMS-side first responders’ employment, such as uniform maintenance, paid sick leave, paid leave for line-of-duty injuries, and paid leave and vacation, the suit alleges. Fire-side first responders also receive more generous overtime, disability, pension, medical, dental, line-of-duty death, and educational benefits and have the benefit of state-of-the-art facilities that enable them to rest between calls. 

The class is made up of between 4,500 and 5,000 EMTs, paramedics, lieutenants, captains, deputy chiefs and division commanders who worked in the EMS Bureau of the FDNY at any time from the three years preceding the complaint through the present. The city’s arguments against class certification were that Plaintiffs have not shown how EMS-side and fire-side first responders are adequate comparators for Title VII purposes, and that class status is inappropriate because of the differences between rank and responsibility amongst EMS workers. Judge Torres rejected these arguments from the city. 

Plaintiffs put forth evidence to indicate the city operated under a "general policy of discrimination" that negatively impacted EMS employees, including statistical data to show that the EMS Bureau was much more diverse by both sex and race, according to the order from Judge Torres. That evidence is enough to meet their burden to show class status is appropriate, and that each class member was impacted by the same alleged conduct.