Paramedic alleges city fired him due to military service obligations

An Iowa paramedic is suing the City of Stuart, alleging the city demoted and fired him due to the costs associated with his service in the National Guard. (Photo and logo courtesy City of Stuart EMS)

An Iowa paramedic is suing the City of Stuart, alleging the city demoted and fired him due to the costs associated with his service in the National Guard.

Luke Dahl of Adair County is suing the city in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. He alleges that he enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard in 2009 and is currently serving as an Army flight paramedic on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter for a unit based in Waterloo.

The lawsuit alleges that Dahl began working for the city as a full-time paramedic in November 2016, and that his ongoing military service has required him to attend drills two to three days per month, with an additional two weeks of training each year.

In 2022, Dahl was promoted to assistant director of the city’s emergency medical services, but was not offered health insurance benefits that were awarded other full-time city workers, according to the lawsuit.

On May 20, 2024, the lawsuit claims, his supervisor, EMS Director Sean Bovinett, allegedly called Dahl into a meeting on Dahl’s day off and said his budget was “hurting” because Dahl was a salaried employee taking time off for military training.

According to the lawsuit, Bovinett said that due to Dahl’s military service obligations, he intended to demote Dahl and convert his pay from salary to hourly.

Dahl alleges he complained to the city administrator, Ashraf Ashour, arguing the plan was illegal under the provisions of the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. The lawsuit alleges that the city moved forward with the plan and demoted Dahl, eliminated the assistant director job, and promoted a part-time paramedic who didn’t serve in the military to the position of EMS coordinator.

The lawsuit claims that on June 25, the city fired Dahl, with Mayor Dick Cook and Bovinett telling Dahl he was being fired for mishandling patient information, responding to fire calls while on duty as a paramedic, and for timecard or scheduling discrepancies. The lawsuit alleges the reasons given for the firing were pretextual and that Dahl was actually fired “because of his military service.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act.

The city’s attorney, Janice Thomas, was not available for comment Monday.