Perreault v. Harmony Fire District / Ferragamo v. Harmony Fire District

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island today announced the settlement of a pair of sex discrimination lawsuits it had filed in 2016 on behalf of two female EMT/firefighters who alleged that the Harmony Fire District in Glocester had terminated them from their jobs because of concerns they had raised about differential treatment between male and female firefighters. The lawsuits, filed in U.S. District Court by ACLU of RI volunteer attorney Sonja Deyoe, were on behalf of Kimberly Perreault, who served as an EMT/firefighter for the Harmony Fire District for 12 years before being terminated in January 2015 for purportedly being “unhappy” with the fire department, and Linda Ferragamo, who had also worked at the department for over a decade before being fired after supporting Perreault’s complaints and objecting to her termination. Without admitting any liability, the Department has agreed to pay Perreault and Ferragamo $12,500 each. The settlement agreements also acknowledge that both women were qualified for the job and were performing their work in “a competent fashion” when they were terminated.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has today filed separate sex discrimination lawsuits on behalf of two female EMT/firefighters who allege that the Harmony Fire District in Glocester terminated them from their jobs because of concerns they had raised about differential treatment between male and female firefighters.

For the second time in three months, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has filed a complaint of sex discrimination against the Harmony Fire District for terminating a female employee who had raised concerns that male and female firefighters were being treated differently. The ACLU filed this latest charge with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Linda Ferragamo, an EMT/firefighter at the department for more than a decade.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island has filed a charge of sex discrimination against the Harmony Fire District on behalf of a female EMT/firefighter who was terminated from her job after she and several others raised concerns that male and female firefighters were being treated differently. The charge, filed with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, is on behalf of Kimberly Perreault, who served as an EMT/firefighter for the Harmony Fire District for 12 years before being terminated in January 2015 for purportedly being “unhappy” with the fire department.