Employee files sexual harassment lawsuit against Fayette EMS
A Fayette County woman filed a federal lawsuit against the ambulance service by which she’s employed, claiming she faced sexual harassment while on the job.
Attorney Joel Sansone filed the suit on behalf of Jennifer Shaffer, naming Fayette EMS and its employee Steven Rugg as defendants.
“The atmosphere there is almost lawless,” Sansone said Monday. “It violates federal laws almost every day, and the company continues to turn a blind eye of one individual and people close to him.”
According to the complaint, Shaffer has been a paramedic with Fayette EMS since 1994 and is also a manager. The complaint listed Rugg as a regional supervisor.
On March 26, 2018, Shaffer was speaking with three coworkers when Rugg allegedly approached her from behind and slapped her buttocks with enough force to cause her to jump forward several feet, the suit claimed.
Shaffer contacted her supervisor, who told her to contact the department’s human resource officer about what had occurred.
Sansone contended that despite having told the human resources officer of the co-workers who witnessed the incident, Shaffer was told there were no witnesses.
Those witnesses then gave human resources written statements, which led to Rugg being suspended for 30 days, Sansone wrote. He indicated in the suit that the suspension was a paid one.
The complaint alleged Shaffer was never interviewed about what occurred with Rugg.
Before Rugg was brought back to work, Sansone contended, Shaffer’s superiors held a meeting during which Fayette EMS Chief Rick Adobato said she was no longer upset by what happened.
“This statement was, and is, materially false,” Sansone wrote.
He contended in the filing that Rugg has a “proclivity to creating a sexually hostile work environment, including, but not limited to, defendant Rugg’s unwanted sexual advances toward co-workers, inappropriate language and touching.”
Sansone said he anticipates similar lawsuits to be filed against the company.
Adobato said he could not comment on the lawsuit because he did not yet receive a copy.