Posted on 06/28/2002 3:25:41 PM PDT by TheRedSoxWinThePennant
- HOUSTON — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a former ambulance driver who claimed he was wrongfully fired after stopping for doughnuts while transporting a patient to a hospital.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal granted the city's request and dismissed all of Larry Wesley's discrimination and equal-protection claims earlier this week.
Wesley, who is black, alleged that he was treated unfairly because of his race. In his lawsuit, Wesley claimed EMS drivers of other races caught making unscheduled stops were not fired or were later reinstated.
Rosenthal ruled that Wesley's claims that other employees received lesser sanctions were not supported by the record, and he also failed to show that he was treated more harshly than other drivers.
She used the case of three other drivers in similar situations as an example.
"All three were indefinitely suspended by the Fire Department. On appeal, the African-American received the most favorable result," Rosenthal said in her order, referring to a driver whose suspension was eventually overturned.
Wesley stopped for doughnuts in July 2000 while he was taking an injured youth to Ben Taub Hospital. The boy's mother filed a complaint that led then-Fire Chief Lester Tyra to fire Wesley, a 20-year veteran.
Wesley's attorney, Ray L. Shackelford, could not be reached for comment.
Carole Snyder, an assistant city attorney representing the city, said she was pleased that the judge recognized that each case was handled fairly.
Snyder said that Wesley said he stopped for juice and a doughnut because he was not feeling well.
"I think it's one of those things he wished he hadn't done," Snyder was quoted as saying in Thursday's editions of the Houston Chronicle.
(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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