Legal dispute between two emergency responders dismissed

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This article was published 10/12/2022 (1041 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A protracted legal battle between two first responders who were suing each other with claims of racism and defamation has been snuffed out.

On Nov. 30, Manitoba Court of King’s Bench Justice Herbert Rempel dismissed the legal actions between firefighter Kelcey French and paramedic Nishanth Jayaranjan, ending a two-year-old legal dispute.

The written judgment does not say why the matter is being dismissed. None of the allegations in the claim and counterclaim were tested in court.

Rempel ruled the firefighter and paramedic were responsible for paying their own legal fees.

The men were involved in an emergency call on Oct. 7, 2020 that sparked accusations of racism within the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service and resulted in a third-party probe. The pair was among emergency workers at a medical call in which a 23-year-old Indigenous woman had stabbed herself in the throat with a broken bottle.

The day after the call, Jayaranjan contacted his superiors at the WFPS, accusing French of racism and saying he refused to adequately treat the woman. That correspondence was shared with a Free Press reporter who published an article detailing the accusations — without naming either WFPS member.

In the wake of the accusations, the City of Winnipeg directed Laurelle Harris of Equitable Solutions Consulting to complete a third-party probe into the incident.

She published the results of her review in a 78-report in February 2020, finding French and another firefighter ignored repeated requests from Jayaranjan to help provide medical treatment to the woman and delayed her transportation to the hospital.

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

Last August, French filed a statement of claim against Jayaranjan, seeking $600,000 and alleging he was the target of a “defamatory campaign.” According to the claim, Jayaranjan acted aggressively toward French and “deliberately falsified a patient care report” to make it appear he did not provide adequate care.

French denied the accusations of racism, noting the claims resulted in union representatives requesting he be fired. He also accused Jayaranjan of making anonymous online posts slandering him.

Two months later, Jayaranjan filed a counter-suit, denying the accusations and reaffirming his belief French’s actions were racially motivated.

“French has sought to destroy (Jayaranjan’s) reputation as a reliable and professional paramedic and cause him embarrassment and humiliation,” the claim reads.

Jayaranjan requested an unspecified amount in damages and a written apology.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca