CHICAGO (AP) – Five female Chicago Fire Department paramedics have filed a federal lawsuit alleging they were sexually harassed by superiors.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court contends there is a “code of silence” in the department that encourages the illegal behavior by failing to “discipline, supervise and control” its officers.
The plaintiffs’ attorney, Lynn Palac, says her clients choose to remain anonymous while naming their male harassers in the lawsuit. She says the women have already been put through the wringer and endured a pattern of abuse that has threatened their physical and mental well-being.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction aimed at remedying the hostile work environment.
In response to the lawsuit, Chicago Law Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey would only say the city “does not tolerate harassment of any kind.”
