Yesterday, eleven HSPRD clients signed a $11.25 million settlement agreement resolving a long-standing sex discrimination lawsuit filed against the City of Chicago. This significant development marks a major victory for the eleven courageous women who stepped forward to challenge the systemic barriers that prevented them from becoming paramedics with the Chicago Fire Department (CFD).
The lawsuit alleged that the CFD employed unnecessary and discriminatory physical tests designed to block women from these crucial roles. One test required women to step up and down off an 18-inch box for two-minutes straight with fifty pounds of weight in their hands. The other test required the women to carry (with one partner) a 250-pound loaded stair chair up sixty steps and then down sixty steps without setting the chair down on a step. The tests in question were deemed “ill-matched” to the actual demands of the job, and the lawsuit alleged that they were part of a broader effort to limit opportunities for female paramedics. Due in part to this lawsuit, the City no longer uses the discriminatory tests in the paramedic academy, and five of the plaintiffs now work as CFD paramedics.
The eleven women were represented by HSPRD attorneys Christopher Wilmes and Charlie Wysong, along with co-counsel Marni Willenson of Willenson Law LLC. The clients’ determination has not only led to justice in this case but also set a precedent for how such discriminatory practices may be viewed and addressed in the future.
The settlement marks the conclusion of a lengthy legal battle but also hopefully marks the beginning of necessary change within the City’s public safety departments.
Read the complaint here.
