Lawsuit against Putnam EMS settled

WINFIELD - A lawsuit against Putnam County Emergency Medical Services has been settled and dismissed from Putnam Circuit Court.

A dismissal order was filed Aug. 14, dismissing the action with prejudice.

A letter written by Johnnie E. Brown, counsel for the defendant, was filed July 10 and stated that the matter was settled on July 8.

Putnam County EMS and its director, Cecil Kimble, were named as co-defendants in the suit.

Jack Williams Jr. claimed his employment was wrongfully terminated after he was not allowed to return to work when he suffered an on-the-job injury, according to a complaint filed April 9, 2012, in Putnam Circuit Court.

Williams claimed on April 21, 2011, he attempted to step out of an ambulance when he injured his hip and was transported to CAMC-Teays Valley, where he remained overnight.

Sometime after his arrival at the hospital, Williams maintains Kimble arrived with a representative from a drug testing company, according to the suit.

Williams claimed Kimble asked him to provide the company representative a urine sample.

Because Williams had just been administered strong pain relief medication, he refused and asked them to leave, according to the suit.

Williams claims two days later he attempted to return to work. However, when he attempted to log onto the computer system to fill out an incident report, Kimble reportedly told him that he resigned while at the hospital and had been removed from the payroll, the complaint said.

Despite denying he resigned and expressing a desire to continue working as an emergency medical technician, Williams said Kimble refused to allow him to return to work, according to the suit.

Williams claimed shortly after his termination, he received approval of his Workers’ Compensation claim for his medical bills, but, he suffered a loss of privacy; lost wages; annoyance and inconvenience; mental pain and suffering; and embarrassment, as a result of his wrongful termination.

Williams was seeking compensatory and punitive damages. He was represented by Michael T. Clifford and Richelle K. Garlow.

The defendants were represented by Johnnie E. Brown of Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe PLLC.

The case was assigned to Circuit Judge Phillip M. Stowers.

Putnam Circuit Court case number: 12-C-110