Nickles Ponders Appeal of Ruling Reinstating EMT

D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said he will decide early next week whether to appeal a judge's decision forcing the District to reinstate an emergency medical technician fired for her involvement in the botched care of a former New York Times journalist slain in 2006.

Nickles said a D.C. Superior Court ruling Thursday upheld an employment judge's decision that the city did not act quickly enough in firing Selena Walker, who was among the emergency workers faulted for the care of journalist David E. Rosenbaum, who died in January 2006. Her firing came past a 90-day window that the court said the city had to meet.

Walker was part of an ambulance crew that got lost on the way to pick up Rosenbaum, mistakenly thought he was intoxicated, classified him as a low priority and then bypassed a closer hospital and took him to Howard University Hospital, according to Nickles and a D.C. inspector general's report.

Walker drove the ambulance, sources said at the time.

Rosenbaum's brother, Marcus Rosenbaum, said he could not believe Walker's case would be decided on a technicality. "I think it's an outrage," he said yesterday.

Rosenbaum, 63, died of a brain injury two days after he was attacked and beaten with a metal pipe on Gramercy Street NW on Jan. 6, 2006. His family dropped a $20 million lawsuit against the District last year in exchange for a commitment that officials would overhaul the city's emergency medical response system.

Kenneth Crosswhite, the District's deputy fire chief, said the department would wait for Nickles's decision about an appeal before moving forward. The developments were reported yesterday by WUSA-TV (Channel 9). "She has not been given a start date," Crosswhite said.

He said he could not immediately determine the outcome of cases against four other emergency workers who also faced disciplinary action stemming from Rosenbaum's care.

Former fire chief Adrian H. Thompson fired Walker in June 2006, sources said at the time. Walker could not be reached yesterday for comment.

Nickles said the court decision hinged in part on when the clock began ticking on Walker's dismissal, and whether the case was considered on hold, or suspended, while the incident was under review by the inspector general.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.