Former Rockville Centre Fire Department paramedic Donna Hitscherich filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights earlier this year, alleging that she was retaliated against after raising concerns about the practices and finances of Floodlight Rescue Company No. 1, the department’s EMS unit, according to documents obtained by the Herald.
Hitscherich, who is a business and finance law professor at Columbia University’s Business School, began questioning in 2015 why certain required equipment had not been installed in the company’s ambulances. Then, in 2016, she sought access to certain of Floodlight’s financial records, which she was denied. In February last year, the Fire Department filed unrelated charges against her. Those charges were dropped a month later. She then resigned from the company, and the department, in April last year.