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Former EMS workers file lawsuit

by KEITH KINNAIRD
News editor | March 31, 2020 1:00 AM

SANDPOINT — Two former Bonner County EMS workers are suing the county for allegedly violating the Idaho Protection of Public Employees Act.

Joseph Uzeta Jr. and Lisa Hull are seeking damages for lost back and future pay, emotional distress and loss of career track, according to a 13-page civil complaint filed in 1st District Court on March 19.

Counsel for Uzeta and Hull, Hayden Lake attorney Lawrence Beck, described his clients in court documents as longtime Bonner EMS employees who had exemplary job performance which earned them commendations and pay raises during their tenure. Uzeta was a paramedic, while Hull was an advanced emergency medical technician.

Uzeta and Hull said they were fired for their response to a medical call for a woman with a broken arm at the natural waterslides near the Idaho Department of Parks & Recreation’s Lions Head campground on Sept. 7, 2019.

The natural waterslides are accessed by a narrow Idaho Department of Lands road with sharp turns and steep drop-offs, the suit said.

Hull began driving up the road to meet with a Priest Lake EMS crew and transfer the woman to their ambulance. Uzeta and Hull asked for the Priest Lake crew to rendezvous with them farther down the mountain because the narrow road didn’t allow room for traffic that was still coming down the mountain to safely pass, the suit said.

The Priest Lake crew, the suit alleges, declined to rendezvous and was unresponsive to requests for them to halt traffic coming down so Uzeta and Hull could drive up.

Hull started up the mountain, but stopped after nearly colliding with a van and reversing back down the mountain to a pullout so a double-axle truck could pass them.

Uzeta, as the senior incident officer, directed Hull to stage at a pullout because the road was too treacherous with traffic still coming down, the suit.

The Priest Lake crew ultimately came down and Uzeta joined them for the woman’s ride to the hospital.

Uzeta and Hull said they were advised four or five days later that they were being suspended with pay pending the results of an internal investigation. They were informed in October 2019 that they were being fired due to their handling of the Priest Lake call, the suit alleges.

“Neither plaintiff was allowed to see the investigation report, or rebut any of the accusations or findings,” Beck said in the complaint.

Uzeta and Hull said were provided a list of policies which could lead to their termination, which Beck said ironically included a prohibition against driving in an unsafe manner. Idaho’s administrative code also prohibits unsafe driving by emergency professionals.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.