By Alexandra Sanders
New Haven Register
WESTBROOK, Conn. — Two members of the Westbrook Ambulance Association claim they were unfairly suspended without pay from their jobs in retaliation for questioning the way things are being done.
Elizabeth Colonghi, firefighter and emergency medical technician, said that she expects their cases to be heard before an appeals board Thursday.
Colonghi said tension started to build after she filed a motion in late April to have Assistant Chief Pete Thomas removed from his post because she questioned his ability as an EMT.
Thomas could not be reached for comment.
Colonghi’s husband, Scott Colonghi, a firefighter and emergency medical response technician, was suspended shortly after that for 90 days because, according to him, he questioned the WAA secretary about meeting minutes not being posted on Facebook, and “she took it as a threat.”
According to a letter from Chief Gregg Prevost Jr., on May 13, Scott Colonghi was suspended for another 90 days for posting again in a public forum in a way that violated the organization’s violence and harassment policy.
In addition to meeting minutes not being posted in a timely manner, the Westbrook couple cited other alleged violations, including bylaws not being followed in many instances, and oxygen tanks that were not secured to the wall at the WAA building, which they said posed a hazard.
According to Fire Marshal George Rehberg, the oxygen tanks were secured to the wall about five days after the Colonghis’ complaint.
“This is not personal at all,” said Elizabeth Colonghi. “But there is a certain way you have to do things.”
Elizabeth Colonghi was also suspended May 13 for at least 120 days, pending any criminal investigations, for allegedly violating the violence and harassment policy and being involved in the destruction of WAA equipment more than once.
Her suspension was also based on a report by another WAA employee that she was intoxicated while on duty May 11 and “had in possession/ used illegal drugs and ... subsequently involved in a domestic dispute, which included a report of child abuse, which was immediately referred to (the state Department of Children and Family Services.)”
Prevost said that he could not comment on the couples’ suspension beyond saying, “It is a personnel matter and it is being reviewed.”
“The accusations are a complete and utter lie,” said Elizabeth Colonghi. “I was not under the influence or in possession of any substance, legal or not, nor was I involved in a domestic dispute that required police involvement.”
Elizabeth Colonghi said she told Prevost that she would submit to a drug test, but “he ignored me and walked away.”
Concerning the child abuse accusations, Elizabeth Colonghi said that another member of the ambulance association alerted DCF after telling Colonghi’s daughter, 12, that she is an “unfit mother.”
Elizabeth Colonghi said that she has custody of her children and the DCF report was part of the retribution from members of the organization.
When asked about the allegation that she destroyed ambulance property, she explained that she was having a pillow fight and “lightly” threw a remote control at another WAA member and it broke. In a separate incident, the antennae on the radio that she wears on her side bent when she leaned over, she said.