Philly’s chief paramedic was punished for reporting favoritism in the fire department, lawsuit says
Jason Centofanti, the city's fire paramedic services chief, filed a whistleblower lawsuit claiming he was stripped of leadership responsibilities and perks for elevating a report of favoritism.
Philadelphia’s chief paramedic said in a whistleblower lawsuit that he was stripped of his leadership position for sounding the alarm about allegations of favoritism in the city’s fire department.
Jason Centofanti, who joined Philadelphia’s emergency medical services in 2007, says fire department leadership punished him for escalating a report accusing a captain of being lenient with a subordinate who had failed to fill out required patient records because of a personal friendship.
Centofanti, who was elevated to the role of fire paramedic services chief last year, investigated and suspected the captain attempted to cover up the conduct by falsifying an official record. But when Centofanti elevated these concerns, the suit says, he was met with a brick wall and punished.
His plight made its way to the Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General and the fire commissioner, according to the complaint. Even though some higher-ups acknowledged the retaliatory nature of his transfer in conversation with Centofanti, the suit says, it was not enough to stop it.
The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Common Pleas Court, accuses the city of violating whistleblower protections and asks a judge to order the city to end the retaliation against Centofanti, pay him for lost wages, and compensate him with more than $50,000 in damages.
A spokesperson for the city’s law department declined to comment on the active litigation. Amanda Martinez, Centofanti’s attorney, said in a statement that the lawsuit speaks for itself.
» READ MORE: ‘It’s not just hair’: Black Philadelphia firefighter says department hair policy is discriminatory
Centofanti launched an investigation in January shortly after a lieutenant complained to him about the captain’s favoritism, according to the complaint.
The lieutenant also accused the captain of harassment, but the lawsuit does not describe the nature of the allegation.
Centofanti discussed the allegation with the accused captain, and escalated a report to department leadership and human resources.
During the investigation, Centofanti came to believe that the captain had altered a document to cover up the alleged conduct, the lawsuit says.
“Plaintiff explicitly stated that he believed that [the captain] submitted a falsified document for an official PFD investigation,” according to the complaint.
The aftermath of the investigation was not what Centofanti expected.
Martin McCall, a deputy commissioner for EMS, moved the captain to a new building at her request “to shield her,” the suit says. McCall also informed Centofanti that due to “work performance” he was being transferred back to field duty, according to the complaint, despite the chief’s work having been rated “superior” and “satisfactory” in a recent performance evaluation.
McCall also moved the lieutenant to a new post because, the suit says, she made the accused captain “uncomfortable.”
“The two reporters of the wrongdoing … were being transferred to less desired positions and punished for speaking out,” the lawsuit says.
Centofanti went to the department’s top leaders and claims they were sympathetic. But that sympathy did not change his fate. An official whistleblower complaint with the city’s inspector general was not enough to reverse the transfer, either.
He was formally transferred out of EMS administration to a field assignment in May, the suit says. His office schedule was replaced with a field rotation that requires nights, weekends, and holidays, according to the complaint. Centofanti lost his office, staff, and car.
Coworkers have been taunting Centofanti since he returned to the field, the complaint says.
“When are you going to learn to shut your mouth,“ one captain texted him, according to the complaint. ”Enjoy your paycut.”
