Whistleblower’s EMT Hearing Unfair

(WXYZ) A Detroit paramedic who believes he was fired for what he knows about the Manoogian Mess is fighting to get his job back. But did the city cheat him out of a fair hearing?

The paramedic went before a trial board that attorneys say should be open to the public, but the fire department did not want you to see it.

Read Heather Catallo’s Entire Script Below

[Heather] Once again, Detroit city officials are conducting business in secret.

And the paramedic is now even more convinced he saw something that the mayor doesn’t want made public.

[Doug Bayer/Fired Paramedic] “They’re making it quite obvious I seen something significant.”

Former Detroit EMS paramedic Doug Bayer says he was fired because of what he told the state police during an investigation into allegations the mayor’s wife assaulted an exotic dancer at rumored wild party inside the Manoogian Mansion.

At 9:00 this morning, a trial board hearing was held at the fire department… to determine whether Bayer can get his job back.

But the hearing quickly turned into chaos.

[Norman Yatooma/Bayer’s Attorney] “This hearing is absolutely positively a sham. There’s absolutely no virtue or meaning behind it other than for the fire department to justify it’s actions in terminating somebody because he had the courage to tell me the EPU was sitting outside Detroit Receiving Hospital.”

As the hearing started, Detroit Fire Commissioner Tyrone Scott blocked reporters from attending the trial board… even though EMS union rules state, “…reporters and authorized observers may be present.”

[Tyrone Scott/Detroit Fire Commissioner] “But if the rule says reporters can be present, why aren’t you letting us up there? Because the room is full and I don’t want it disrupted.”

Commissioner Scott later changed his reasons several times for not allowing reporters into the hearing. And this First Amendment attorney says he believes the Commissioners decision was illegal.

[Brian Wassom/Detroit Free Press Attorney] “It’s a basic fundamental fact that the media has a right of access, the public has a right of access, and the media is their representative, to see what happens in it’s courtrooms, and this is a quasi-judicial proceeding, this is something the public needs to be aware what’s happening.”

So why the secrecy?

Doug Bayer recently filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the city of Detroit. On the night of the alleged assault on the exotic dancer in 2002, Bayer brought a patient to Detroit Receiving, but says the Mayor’s Executive Protection Unit prevented him from entering the hospital.

[Doug Bayer/Fired Paramedic] “I said, I have to bring my patient into the hospital, they said no you do not, we’ll take your patient in for you, I said you cannot, you’re not a medically trained professional, you cannot give a report as to the injuries of my patient.”

Bayer’s EMS supervisor arrived to take his patient into the hospital.. and his supervisor is the one who recently signed an affidavit saying he saw Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick at Receiving Hospital that night.

After the Michigan State Police interviewed Bayer in 2005, the paramedic says he started getting harassed.

[Doug Bayer/Fired Paramedic] “I was told by a 2nd Deputy Fire Commissioner two years ago to keep your mouth shut.”

In June he was fired – accused of stealing heart monitor cables. Bayer says he was simply returning the cables to their rightful owner – the DMC.

Today was supposed to be his chance to answer to the charges of theft in front of a 3 person panel…

But the chair of that panel is Deputy Fire Commission Seth Doyle, who is named in Bayer’s lawsuit. Because of that conflict of interest, Bayer’s attorney wanted to tape record the proceedings.

[Norman Yatooma/Bayer’s Attorney] “The media of course has been denied access to this public hearing, so why should we think we’ll ever get access to the words said in there? After all, Mr. Doyle turns the record off when I’m speaking, and turns it back on, to hear his oratory, so we make our own recording, for which I was threatened with arrest.”

Doug Bayer’s EMS partner is now also suddenly in trouble… She has been put on unpaid leave – she says she’s been told she’s a co-conspirator in the alleged theft of the heart monitor cables.

EMS Union President Wisam Zeineh says he was forced off of the 3 person trial board panel because his job was threatened, saying the hearing was even more “unfair” for Bayer.

Contributor Ann Mullen’s Earlier Report

A Detroit Emergency Medical Technician’s union grievance hearing abruptly ended this morning because his attorney refused to stop tape recording the proceeding.

The hearing was to address the firing of Detroit EMT Doug Bayer, who is suing the City of Detroit, Fire Department Commissioner Tyrone Scott, and other supervisors. Bayer accuses the department of terminating him because he spoke to the media and the Michigan State Police about what he says he knows about the alleged Manoogian Mansion party.

Birmingham attorney Norman Yatooma was at the hearing with Bayer, who he represents in his lawsuit against the city. Deputy Fire Commissioner Seth Doyle, who Bayer is also suing, presided over today’s proceedings. The administrative hearing is a result of union grievances filed over Bayer’s firing.

Doyle ordered Yatooma to stop tape recording the proceeding or he would be thrown out. Yatooma left with his client because he did not want Bayer to remain at the hearing unrepresented.

Several media outlets attempted to cover the hearing, but were denied access. Action News contacted city of Detroit spokesperson Denise Tolliver asking why the press could not attend the hearing. Tolliver said they were not allowed to cover it and hung up.

Bayer’s supervisors allege they fired him for stealing heart monitor cables, according to his lawsuit. Bayer says the medical equipment belonged to Detroit Receiving Hospital and he was returning it.

Bayer’s former EMT partner Fawn Colombatto told Action News she was suspended August 7, without pay, for allegedly being a co-conspirator in the medical equipment theft.

“This is completely unsubstantiated,” says Wisam Zeineh president of the Detroit Emergency Medical Services IUOE Local 547-E, which represents Bayer and Colombatto. Zeineh was at the hearing to represent Bayer on behalf of the union.

Zeineh says the department is retaliating against Colombatto because she is a witness in Bayer’s lawsuit.

“She was blindsided,” says Zeineh. “They have continued to do what I believe to be harassing and discriminatory behavior, retaliatory behavior. The administration is appointed by the mayor and they are very arrogant. They do what they want and what they’re doing is illegal.”

Bayer, who was with the Detroit EMS since 1999, is suing under the Whistleblower’s Protection Act. Bayer’s lawsuit says that in the fall of 2002, he was delivering a patient to Detroit Receiving Hospital when he saw who he believed were members of Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick’s security detail delivering an injured dancer to the emergency room. His lawsuit also says the security detail had EMS personnel removed from the emergency room.

It has long been rumored that the mayor’s wife, Carlita Kilpatrick, assaulted stripper Tamara Greene at a party at the Manoogian Mansion. Greene has since been murdered. Her family is suing the city of Detroit for allegedly thwarting the investigation into her death. Attorney Norman Yatooma also represents Greene’s family.