Firefighter sues paramedic who accused him of racism, triggered probe

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This article was published 13/08/2021 (1133 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg firefighter who was the target of a probe into allegations of racism within the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service has filed a defamation lawsuit against a paramedic who made the accusation.

In a statement of claim filed Monday, firefighter Kelcey French is suing paramedic Nishanth Jayaranjan for $600,000 in damages and seeking an order that he remove “all defamatory words or images” from his social media accounts.

A third-party probe completed last February found French and another firefighter ignored repeated requests from Jayaranjan to help provide medical treatment to a 23-year-old Indigenous woman who had stabbed herself in the throat with a broken beer bottle on Oct. 7, 2020.

A 78-page report by Laurelle Harris of Equitable Solutions Consulting found the firefighters failed to provide medical care to the patient and delayed her transportation to the hospital. It also found they conspired to lie to the investigator hired by the city to review the incident.

Harris said the firefighters’ conduct was likely motivated by “racial animus” and “implicit racial bias.”

Harris ruled the firefighters likely refused to help the patient in an attempt to retaliate against Jayaranjan (also a person of colour) for having filed complaints about racism within the WFPS.

French was the first responder on scene to examine the patient, other than police, and found she was “alert and responsive” and that her wound did not appear to be bleeding, alleges the statement of claim.

French accompanied the patient in an ambulance, along with Jayaranjan, who, the statement of claim alleges “was immediately hostile and aggressive towards him.” French alleges Jayaranjan insulted him with profanity and slurs and falsified a patient-care report “to make it appear as if care was not promptly provided to the victim.”

The following day, Jayaranjan sent an email to Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Chief John Lane, copied to 10 other city and union representatives, falsely claiming French refused to provide treatment to the patient and that his refusal to help was “racially motivated,” alleges the statement of claim.

A copy of the email was shared with a Free Press reporter with a news story detailing the allegations appearing a week later.

“The tone and substance of the… article implied that French was racist and had refused to render care to the patient because they were a member of an Indigenous community,” alleges the statement of claim. “French pleads that the source of the… email, as sent to the Winnipeg Free Press was quite obviously Jayaranjan.”

While the news story did not name French, other descriptors made it easy for those within the fire-paramedic community to identify him, the statement of claim alleges.

The statement of claim alleges Jayaranjan, using a pseudonym, posted on Reddit last February falsely accusing French of harassing him at his home and implied he was involved in a break-in to his parents’ home. Jayaranjan filed a police report for both alleged incidents, says the statement of claim.

“The police complaint was dismissed after the police learned that at the time Jayaranjan alleged that French was at his home, he was at work,” alleges the statement of claim.

French alleges the false claims resulted in union representatives requesting that he be fired.

A statement of defence has not been filed. The allegations have not been proven in court.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca