Pittsburgh poised to pay city firefighter $70,000 to settle discrimination suit

Pittsburgh would pay a city firefighter $70,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2016 by restricting his duties after he suffered a head injury while responding to a fire call.

City Council introduced a resolution Tuesday that would authorize a settlement of Lt. Robert Mahouski’s federal lawsuit. Council will vote on the resolution in coming weeks.

Mahouski, 38, of Brookline, who suffers from juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, contends in the lawsuit that he slipped and fell down stairs while responding to the call on May 12, 2016.

Pittsburgh, which was aware he suffers from epilepsy, assumed he had a seizure and placed him on alternative duty for nearly two years after a doctor cleared him for work, according to the lawsuit.

Mahouski contends he lost a significant amount of pay because the city prevented him from working overtime. The city also prohibited him from teaching at the bureau’s training academy, according to the lawsuit. Pittsburgh returned him to full duty in April 2018.

Tim McNulty, spokesman for Mayor Bill Peduto, declined to comment. Neither Mahouski nor his attorneys could be reached for comment.

“Defendant’s violation of the ADA was intentional and with reckless disregard of Mahouski’s federally protected right to be free from discrimination on the basis of his disability,” the lawsuit reads.

Mahouski was seeking retroactive pay and fringe benefits for the time he lost, plus compensatory damages and payment for legal fees.