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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Former EMT Says Hospital Staff Harassed Him

RICHMOND, Va. (CN) - An emergency medical technician claims in court that he was the subject of persistent, sexually-explicit bullying by two former female coworkers.

In a complaint filed in the Richmond City Circuit Court, Randall Meeker, a former EMT with American Medical Response, says his alleged travails began after he and his partner were temporarily re-assigned to transport patients to and from the emergency room, intensive care, medical/surgical wing and helipad of Riverside Tappahannock Hospital.

Shortly after beginning the new assignment, Meeker says, Collin Harding and Miranda Smith, both radiology technicians in Riverside's imaging department, began harassing him in front of patients.

Harding routinely called Meeker names such as "cock sucker," and told him to "fuck off," "eat me" and "lick my cunt," according to the complaint.

Meeker alleges the pattern of harassment began in September, 2014, when the women openly discussed sexual frustrations with their marital lives.

"My husband doesn't get me off at all. I usually have to finish that myself," Harding told Smith according to the complaint. "I use the shower head. I just turn it on the massage setting and shove it right down there on my clit until it gets me off," she continued.

Meeker alleges that upon confronting a supervisor about the incident, he learned that it was not the first time that Harding had made vulgar comments to other employees.

But the harassment did not stop, Meeker claims, and on December 22, 2014, he discovered through a coworker that Harding had allegedly forged a "note" written by Meeker and asking her to perform sexual favors.

Meeker says he never wrote Harding any note, nor did he ever request anything of the kind.

Meeker says he again complained about the abuse, this time to the director of imaging services, only to be told hospital administrators had been aware of instances such as this in the past, but the harassment continued nonetheless.

"Meeker ... was concerned that Defendant Harding could become violent," the complaint says.

According to court documents, Harding followed Meeker into the emergency room to help transfer a patient on April 26, 2015. When he and another EMT told her they did not need her help, she allegedly refused to leave.

"Defendant Harding ... instead nudged the other paramedic down the bed, leaving her directly across from Meeker," Meeker claims in his complaint.

"Meeker was up against the wall. Fearful that Defendant Harding, while becoming more and more agitated, was going to assault him or the patient," the complaint continues.

When Meeker warned Harding that he would file another charge against her if she did not leave, she allegedly responded "go ahead, Randy," then grabbed the patient without warning.

Meeker says he did file a complaint and was later fired from his job with AMR because of the incident. He is suing the women in their individual capacities for defamation and assault.

Harding refused to comment on the pending suit over the phone.

"It's very private information," Harding told Courthouse News.

Meeker is represented by attorney Barbara Queen of Lawrence & Associates in Richmond.

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