(Sept. 10, 2015) A trial date has been set for the civil case of Zackary Tyndall versus the Berlin Fire Company, for Jan. 11-22 at U.S. District Court in Baltimore.
In July, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander denied the Fire Company’s motion for a partial summary judgment.
Tyndall, a former fire company employee, originally filed a harassment complaint in August 2013.
Lipton’s 63-page opinion said the case concerned allegations of employment discrimination and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” against two former coworkers of Tyndall, Bryon Trimble and Derrick Simpson.
According to Tyndall, he was fired from the job in retaliation for reporting certain activities at the department. Among his allegations was that the defendants created a hostile work environment that led to his severe depression.
An evaluation by a clinical psychologist included in the judge’s memorandum agreed that Tyndall “developed a Major Depressive Disorder … experienced through his affiliation with the fire company.”
Lipton noted that Tyndall may not have success in his claim, but wrote, “It is not the province of the court to make factual findings or to resolve factual disputes.”
“Tyndall has produced evidence that Trimble and Simpson—men almost twice his age, and in supervisory positions—subjected him to a prolonged, continuous barrage of derogatory remarks, to which Tyndall repeatedly objected,” Lipton wrote, adding that the alleged conduct “occurred in two workplaces … and spanned multiple years.”
Amy Taylor Sevigny, an associate at the Salisbury law firm Otway, Russo & Rommel, represents Tyndall. Joanna Schmidt, from Baltimore-based firm Schmidt, Dailey & O’Neill, LLC., represents the Berlin Fire Company.
Neither side returned calls for comment.
In July, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander denied the Fire Company’s motion for a partial summary judgment.
Tyndall, a former fire company employee, originally filed a harassment complaint in August 2013.
Lipton’s 63-page opinion said the case concerned allegations of employment discrimination and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” against two former coworkers of Tyndall, Bryon Trimble and Derrick Simpson.
According to Tyndall, he was fired from the job in retaliation for reporting certain activities at the department. Among his allegations was that the defendants created a hostile work environment that led to his severe depression.
An evaluation by a clinical psychologist included in the judge’s memorandum agreed that Tyndall “developed a Major Depressive Disorder … experienced through his affiliation with the fire company.”
Lipton noted that Tyndall may not have success in his claim, but wrote, “It is not the province of the court to make factual findings or to resolve factual disputes.”
“Tyndall has produced evidence that Trimble and Simpson—men almost twice his age, and in supervisory positions—subjected him to a prolonged, continuous barrage of derogatory remarks, to which Tyndall repeatedly objected,” Lipton wrote, adding that the alleged conduct “occurred in two workplaces … and spanned multiple years.”
Amy Taylor Sevigny, an associate at the Salisbury law firm Otway, Russo & Rommel, represents Tyndall. Joanna Schmidt, from Baltimore-based firm Schmidt, Dailey & O’Neill, LLC., represents the Berlin Fire Company.
Neither side returned calls for comment.