GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — A NC paramedic and breast cancer survivor is suing county officials, claiming that they failed to protect her from sexual harassment.
Abigail Wilson filed a lawsuit in Gaston County Superior Court Wednesday for negligence and battery against a co-worker who is accused of abusing her, according to WSOCTV.
Wilson was hired in 2009, and was diagnosed with breast cancer a year later. The lawsuit says that her superiors initially agreed to grant her intermittent medical leave while she went through surgery, but was she was fired 10 days later.
After filing a complaint with the Federal Department of Labor, she got her job back, but she says that is when the harassment started.
Wilson alleges that she was “frivolously written up” and passed over for promotions and was assigned a new partner who would repeatedly harass her.
The TV station reports that Wilson’s new partner would send her nude pictures of himself, graphic texts, grope her and grab her.
She also claims at least one of the incidents was caught on a surveillance camera at a local hospital, and even though county officials watched the video did nothing to end the supposed abuse.
“Shockingly, even with video evidence they decided not to terminate this employee,” Josh Van Kampen, Wilson’s attorney, said.
Wilson said that after repeated complaints to her superiors, she was put on a different shift where she still was harassed by the same coworker.
She said the final straw was when she received a hug from another medic after an 11-month-old patient died in her ambulance. She was written up for “third party sexual harassment”.
“I really just hope that the county understands that they can’t continue to treat people this way. I feel they’ve let me down at every turn,” Wilson said.