Fired EMT in Rosenbaum Case Wins Appeal

STATter 911 has learned that Selena Walker, who was fired by D.C. Fire & EMS over the David Rosenbaum incident, has won an appeal in an effort to get her job back. According to sources close to the case, an administrative law judge with the District of Columbia Office of Employee Appeals has ruled that officials did not take action against Walker within a 90-day window of when they knew or should have known about the allegations.

D.C. Fire & EMS spokesperson Tony Dorsey told STATter 911 this afternoon that he can't comment other than to say, "The city will be appealing the ruling." The next appeal would take the case to D.C. Superior Court.

EMT Selena Walker drove the ambulance that transported the former New York Times reporter to Howard University Hospital. A D.C. Inspector General's report found that Walker took David Rosenbaum to Howard, rather than the closer Sibley Hospital, because of her own personal reasons and did not base the decision on D.C. Fire & EMS protocol.

The report found that David Rosenbaum died after firefighters, EMTs and Howard University Hospital failed to discover a critical head wound that Rosenbaum received when he was robbed on a Northwest Washington street in January, 2006. Documents show the first responders thought Rosenbaum was inebriated.

Rosenbaum's family dropped a lawsuit after Mayor Adrian Fenty agreed to work with the family to improve the delivery of emergency medical services in the District of Columbia. A task force looking at the issue has its next meeting on Tuesday.

A call has been made to the D.C. Attorney General's Office seeking further comment about the case.