Feb. 06--A former Erie firefighter has won her court battle with the city of Erie, and a judge has ordered that she be reinstated to the next available post with the fire department.
A jury decided shortly before 5 p.m. that the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when she was terminated from her job as a firefighter for setting a fire in a bathtub during a suicide attempt in 2006.
Gerald Villella, an assistant city solicitor, told jurors that the firefighter, Mary Wolski, despite her discrimination claim, cannot get around the "white elephant" in the room -- the fact that she set a fire. That was a legitimate reason for the city to fire her in April 2007, he said.
Wolski's lawyer, Paul Susko said the evidence showed that the city fired Wolski not because of the fire, but because of unjustified and unproven fears that her illness would recur and because Wolski's suicide attempt embarrassed the city. Wolski, a 10-year-veteran of the force with a spotless record, deserved better, he said.
Jurors agreed. The judge also ruled that Wolski will get all the lost wages that are due her.
Go to Tuesday's Erie Times-News for more coverage.
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