PITTSBURGH - A requirement that emergency medical professionals live in Pittsburgh in order to work there is the subject of a lawsuit that claims it is to blame for understaffing.
The Fraternal Association of Professional Paramedics, Local 1, sued Pittsburgh in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas on April 14. It seeks a judgment that forces Pittsburgh to negotiate changing the residency requirement in order to fully serve its residents' emergency needs.
"The residency requirement in (Pittsburgh's Home Rule Charter) inappropriately limits the public's access to qualified paramedics thereby creating a shortage of such providers in violation of the (Emergency Medical Services) Act," the suit says.
Maintenance workers filed a similar challenge to a residency requirement in March. Voters in the city in 2013 decided Pittsburgh's workers must live there, though the Pittsburgh Parking Authority earlier this year changed its policy, extending the boundary to Allegheny County.
Firefighters also challenged the rule and won an agreement that said they could live within an hour's drive. Years ago, the state Supreme Court found Pittsburgh did not have the legal authority to take the residency requirement off the bargaining table during negotiations with police.
The paramedics' case seeks to do the same, arguing the EMS Act supersedes Pittsburgh's power under the Home Rule Charter Law. The EMS Act gives the state Department of Health the authority to regulate EMS services.
Also in play is the Public Employee Relations Act, which requires public employers to bargain with unions. That extends to issues like the residency requirement for paramedics, the union says.
The current collective bargaining agreement runs through 2027 and was ratified this past November.
"During negotiations, and currently, the City is understaffed with paramedics, resulting in ambulances being taken out of service," the complaint says.
"The shortage of paramedics in the City is due in part to the City's inability to recruit qualified paramedics to work in the City because of the City's residency requirement."
The agreement contained a stipulation that paramedics could live outside of the City if the residency clause is determined to be unenforceable, leading to the paramedics' lawsuit. The court docket does not indicate which judge has been assigned the case.
Whoever it is will be tasked with deciding if Pittsburgh's Home Rule Charter violates state law, as improperly limiting powers granted by PERA to negotiate a new residency requirement.
The paramedics also say the residency requirement is preempted by the state EMS Act, which removes the power to regulate EMS services from local governments.
Brian Kadlubek and Marianne Oliver of Gilardi Oliver and Lomupo represent the union.