D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin on Monday fired the lead emergency responder to the scene of the attack that killed New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum and suspended a second for a month, delivering harsher discipline than a peer review board recommended.
“It is my sincere hope that justice has been served,” Rubin said during a news conference at Fire/EMS headquarters.
Rubin received the recommendation of the four-member Fire Trial Board late last week, 16 months after Rosenbaum was robbed and viciously beaten while walking in his Northwest D.C. neighborhood. Despite well-documented failings on virtually every level, from an inadequate initial assessment to the drive to the wrong hospital, the board generally subjected EMTs to slap-on-the-wrist discipline.
“The decision that was rendered by the trial board provided a punishment that was simply too lenient,” Rubin said.
Instead, the primary EMT in the case was terminated as of Monday, the chief announced, and a secondary responder was suspended for a month without pay and removed permanently from street duty. The fired technician “had a level of training that should have allowed him to provide, according to protocols and standards, proper care, and he failed to do so,” Rubin said.
The punishments won immediate approval from Mayor Adrian Fenty.
“We are making a recommendation and a conclusion that there has to be accountability in the David Rosenbaum case,” Fenty said, “that there are some specific instances of misconduct, of inappropriate work that require the highest levels of accountability in this government and that we don’t think came about in the Fire Trial Board decision.”
Three responders found without fault by the board will not be punished. The names of the five individuals have not been released.
Disappointed with the trial board’s long deliberation, Rubin said he would soon ask for a review of the department’s entire disciplinary system. The board, composed of two nonunion officers and two union captains, faces an overhaul, he said.
The punitive action ends the Rosenbaum investigation, Rubin said. But a task force demanded by the Rosenbaum family is working to improve the District’s emergency response system.
