According to a report from JournalNow.com, a landmark settlement made between the North Carolina Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) and Austin Freidt, 24, a volunteer with the Cornatzer-Dulin Volunteer Fire Department (CDVFD), will make Freidt the first applicant ever to take the state’s emergency medical technician (EMT) exam on paper and with a live voice reading it to him.
This will be the first time ever that the OEMS will provide this type of test since it moved to a computer-based system in 2018.
Freidt, who has been seeking these accommodations since 2019, has a reading disability and processes information more quickly and accurately when he hears text read aloud and has a paper from which to read. He received his first cochlear implant for his left ear in second grade and the second implant for his right ear in eighth grade.
Freidt began preparing for life as a firefighter at age 14 when he joined the Advance (NC) Fire Department’s junior firefighter program. He then moved on to become a volunteer with the Mocksville (NC) Fire Department (MFD) for five years. During this time, he attended fire academy courses.
Still determined to go through fire academy, Freidt applied to the Mitchell Community College Fire Academy with a recommendation from MFD Chief Frank Carter. Freidt was accepted, graduated with honors, and was chosen as the MFD’s 2019 Firefighter of the Year.
However, finishing those classes came with difficulties. Freidt initially applied to the Guilford Technical Community College Fire Academy, but he was rejected.
The agreement with the OEMS ensures Freidt will be able to demonstrate his knowledge of emergency medical treatment. As part of the settlement, he will receive payment for attorney’s fees and costs, totaling $53,892.
The next step was to become EMT certified, a requirement most firehouses require to work full-time.
Although Freidt has had people read exams, paper copies, and given more time for tests for his entire scholastic life, the OEMS repeatedly declined to provide the paper copy and a live reader. Court documents show that the OEMS only provided extra time and a distraction-reduced testing area based on its longstanding policy on exam accommodations.
According to documents, Freidt failed the EMT exam multiple times under those conditions.
Despite Freidt’s prior academic success and the recommendation for the requested accommodations by a psychological evaluator, the OEMS referred to federal guidelines for the functional job analysis of an EMT, which required a level four language development and stated that the use of oral assistance in testing was not consistent with the skills required for the job.
According to court documents, Freidt stated that his ability to read does not impact his ability to work.
In September 2021, Freidt filed a lawsuit in the Davie County Superior Court with attorney Chad Archer from Blanco Tackabery against the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The lawsuit sought to exercise Freidt’s rights to accommodations under the state’s Persons with Disabilities Protection Act.
In a memorandum of law filed by the OEMS to dismiss Freidt’s claims, the OEMS called Freidt’s requested accommodations “unreasonable,” saying that having a reader “alters” the exam and having a paper copy “compromises the security” of the exam.
Title III of the ADA states that any person or state government agency that offers exams for certifications shall offer the exams in a manner accessible to persons with disabilities and offer accommodations for those individuals. This ensures that, “The examination results accurately reflect the individual’s aptitude or achievement level.”
OEMS offered no comment on the lawsuit.
Freidt currently works at Cornatzer and the Spencer Fire Department (SFD). He said he is not sure when he’ll take the EMT exam, but he hopes to become a full-time engineer at the SFD and work part-time at Cornatzer and elsewhere.
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