Two sex-discrimination lawsuits filed against the Harmony Fire District in Glocester ended with a settlement, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island announced Wednesday.
Two women who served as EMTs and volunteer firefighters for the Harmony Fire District said they were fired in 2015 after raising concerns that female firefighters were treated differently from male firefighters.
The ACLU of Rhode Island sued the fire district on behalf of the two women in 2016. "These two women felt that they were working in an atmosphere that was not appropriate," said Steven Brown, executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island. "The allegations included that men kept on being promoted in the fire district. Women were not."
The district didn't admit any wrongdoing in the settlement, but it did agree to pay the two women - Linda Ferragamo and Kimberly Perreault -- $12,500 each.