LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After spending nine years with Bullitt County EMS, an employee is taking the service to court.
On behalf of Kathryn "LeeAnn" Sztanya, Attorney Gary Adams filed a whistleblower lawsuit on Thursday against Bullitt County EMS and Supervisor William Fleitz.
The lawsuit claims Sztanya, who has worked for the service since 2012, was demoted to a lower paying job after reporting sexual harassments and nepotism.
The suit lists 27 people involved in inappropriate romantic relationships. Of those, 15 relationships were between supervisors and non-supervisors.
The lawsuit says employees "who are willing to engage in romantic relationships with their superiors tend to get whatever they want, and the ones that don’t suffer."
The complaint goes on to say if an employee doesn't "play ball" the supervisors will do anything in their power to get that employee to leave Bullitt County EMS.
After Sztanya filed an HR complaint over favoritism between Fleitz and his girlfriend, Sztanya was accused of "going over his head." She says Fleitz then created a hostile environment for her and posted demeaning and sexually hostile posts, directed toward her, on social media.
She says although she reported the social media posts, nothing was done.
The lawsuit also claims the workplace "quickly changed" after Judge-Executive Jerry Summers promoted members of his own family and close friends to supervisory positions after he was elected in 2019.
Summers placed his long-time friend Kenny Hardin as EMS director and EMA director, and his goddaughter Rhonda Walls as the HR director, according to court documents.
Walls was also the EMS director at one time.
During her employment, Sztanya says she reported several instances of an EMT filing false reports and committing several patient safety issues.
After reporting the misconduct, Sztanya says she was yelled at, retaliated against and threatened with termination. She says she also lost shifts, lost her ambulance, lost her partner, was moved to night shift, a "less favorable shift," and says other employees were told they would not be promoted to supervisor if they spoke with her.
The same lawsuit claims a 19-year-old filed a sexual harassment complaint with HR after being told a coworker's husband painted her nude while that same coworker brushed her hair.
According to the lawsuit, the complaint was dismissed by Rhonda Walls, one of the employees Summers had promoted.
The lawsuit says Sztanya was discharged from Bullitt County EMS "as a direct and proximate result of her coworker's intentional and discriminatory conduct."
Sztanya has lost wages and other benefits, suffered "severe emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life," according to the suit.
She is now asking for Fleitz and Summers to be punished for their "unlawful conduct."
She also asks for backpay, benefits and to be reinstated as a supervisor.
WDRB News reached out to Fleitz and Judge Summers for comment but has not yet heard back.
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