By EMS1 Staff
NEW YORK — A volunteer ambulance service is being sued for an explicit holiday decoration that included offensive language and gummy bears engaging in sexual acts.
NY Daily News reported that a lawsuit was filed against Bay Shore-Brightwaters Rescue Ambulance by EMTs Ramis Ruiz and John Messing, who alleged the ambulance service was guilty of sexual harassment, bullying and discrimination.
The lawsuit claimed that a 2015 holiday party featured a gingerbread house that had “sexual harassment in progress” written on the roof, with gummy bears arranged in an orgy simulation.
The two EMTS also said they “have been extremely humiliated, degraded, victimized, embarrassed and emotionally distressed,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claimed Ruiz was bullied during an assistant chief election by colleagues who said she was “sleeping around with (fellow) members” to win votes for her candidate.
Messing said he stood up for Ruiz and “was terminated for reporting sexual harassment and for supporting Ruiz, who was intimidated and appeared to need help,” according to the lawsuit.