San Diego Firefighters Claim City Violated the Firefighters Procedural Bill of Rights

San Diego Firefighters IAFF Local 145 has filed suit against the city claiming that the city’s refusal to provide details about allegations that led to a disciplinary investigation, violate the state’s Firefighter Procedural Bill of Rights. The case is complicated because it involves an EMS incident, pitting HIPAA concerns against the FPBOR.

The complaint goes in painstaking detail laying out the factual basis for their concerns. Quoting briefly from the 89-paragraph complaint filed in San Diego County Superior Court:

• On or about June 22, 2024, Firefighter Ortiz responded to an emergency call alongside paramedic employees privately employed by the company Falck, who is under contract with the City to provide relevant paramedic emergency response and other healthcare services.
• During this emergency call, a Falck employed paramedic was designated as the “airway paramedic” and performed these relevant duties together with another Falck employee who was a licensed paramedic getting field-trained during this call for service.
• Two days after this emergency call, on June 24, 2024, Firefighter Ortiz received a commendation from Quality Assurance (“QA”), which encompasses a process in the City designed to monitor, evaluate, and improve the quality of healthcare delivery.
• This initial commendation from QA stated: “Excellent communication and teamwork. Excellent patient care. Nice work everyone.”
• However, notwithstanding this commendation, on June 26, 2024, Firefighter Ortiz received a follow-up email from QA advising that a complaint had been filed (Complaint FS24109177) regarding his actions during the June 22, 2024 emergency call.
• During an interview with QA regarding this complaint, Firefighter Ortiz was advised that there was an allegation of an issue with esophageal intubation.
• The QA Staff interviewing him advised that since he was not the airway paramedic, they would consider this matter an educational issue and that there would be no further inquiry.
• However, on or about July 8, 2024, Firefighter Ortiz received an email from Department Chief Adams asking him if he was available July 10, 2024 to sit down with QA staff to conduct an airway case review.

Thereafter the department initiated a professional standards investigation into the same incident, meaning there were simultaneously two investigations going on. For seemingly no apparent reason, FF Ortiz was suspended while the investigations were ongoing. Local 145 characterized his suspension as “premature” and sought additional information into what was basis for it by submitting a formal “Request for Information.”

The city declined to produce the requested information citing HIPAA and confidentiality associated with the QI/QA investigation. The matter dragged on for months with both investigations being completed and FF Ortiz being returned to duty. The city eventually provided some of the requested information to Local 145. However, it failed to produce some of the key information requested as to how and why the matter progressed discipline-wise the way it did.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction ordering the city to produce the requested information, declaring that the city violated the FPBOR, compelling the city to pay a civil penalty of $25,000 for violating the FPBOR, and paying the union’s attorney’s fees.

Here is a copy of the complaint: