Couple sue Bucks ambulance unit, alleging harassment

Feb. 27--A couple formerly employed by the Central Bucks Ambulance and Rescue Unit are suing the agency, contending that its chief groped and sexually harassed the wife, then fired her and her husband after she filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Karla Jenkins, 37, and Eli Metzgar, 34, contend that from 2002 until 2011, Charles Pressler orally and physically harassed Jenkins, grabbing her breasts and buttocks.

By October 2011, the suit says, less than two months after Jenkins filed her complaint, both she and Metzgar had been fired.

Reached by telephone Tuesday, Pressler declined to comment.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia on Monday, says Jenkins, an EMT, worked at the agency full time between 2000 and 2005 and part time from 2008 until 2011.

In April 2011, the suit says, Jenkins filed a complaint about Pressler's alleged actions with the Central Bucks board of directors. But in a hearing with the board, the suit contends, members said they didn't believe Jenkins because she failed to include specific dates on which she was harassed.

Jenkins then filed a complaint with the EEOC in August 2011, the suit says. Less than two weeks later, the suit contends, she received a letter from the rescue unit canceling the only remaining shift on her schedule. The suit says Jenkins was told she was fired due to economic reasons, but no other part-time employees had shifts canceled.

About a month later, the suit says, Metzgar, a full-time paramedic, was suspended indefinitely. He was told that the action was related to a patient complaint, but the suit contends he was never interviewed about it. In October 2011, the suit says, Metzgar was fired.

The EEOC issued Right-to-Sue letters supporting Jenkins and Metzgar in December 2012.

Reached by telephone, Tiffanie Benfar, the lawyer for Jenkins and Metzgar, said: "The complaint speaks for itself right now."

--

Contact Chris Palmer, 609-217-8305, cpalmer@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter, @cs_palmer.

Copyright 2013 - The Philadelphia Inquirer