City fires paramedics charged in Al-Hasnawi death, says union president
Union accuses city of throwing paramedics ‘under the bus’
THE CITY FIRED two Hamilton paramedics criminally charged for their response to the fatal shooting of Yosif Al-Hasnawi, says their union’s president.
The “shattering” terminations of Steven Snively, 53, of Hamilton and Christopher Marchant, 29, of Whitby took effect Wednesday, says Mario Posteraro, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 256 which represents Hamilton paramedics.
“While I’m not necessarily surprised, I am disappointed,” Posteraro said. “We will be grieving the discharges that are unjust and unwarranted.”
Hamilton’s paramedic service confirms it has concluded its investigation into the care provided to AlHasnawi after he was shot at about 9 p.m. on Dec. 2, 2017, on Sanford Avenue North while trying to stop an older man from being harassed.
But acting paramedic chief Russell Crocker won’t provide any further information.
“As the matter is now before the courts and potentially involves both human resource and labour relations issues, we will not be providing details on the status of employment of the affected paramedics or the details of the internal investigation,” he said in a statement. “This is to assist in
maintaining the integrity of the process.”
Snively and Marchant, who are charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life to the 19year-old Brock University student as he lay dying on the sidewalk, are to appear in a Hamilton court on Sept. 11.
“The employer had a number of options it could have exercised while the criminal charges were being dealt with through the courts,” Posteraro said. “Instead, they decided to throw two of their paramedics under the bus by terminating their employment.”
Al-Hasnawi had been attending a religious celebration at the Al-Moustafa Islamic Centre, on Main Street East near Wentworth Street South. The confrontation occurred after he stepped outside for some air.
Witnesses, including family members, allege paramedics did not believe he had been shot, and that they were laughing and telling him to get up.
They say the bullet wound was small, and some initially speculated it was from a BB gun, not a handgun.
Police have previously said it took 38 minutes from the time
paramedics arrived on scene to get Al-Hasnawi to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Unanswered questions remain about why the gravely injured teen wasn’t take to Hamilton General Hospital, which is closer to the shooting scene and the regional trauma centre.
In a statement of defence to the family’s $10-million lawsuit against police, paramedics and the hospital, St. Joseph’s said that Al-Hasnawi was already without vital signs on arrival at their Charlton campus and pronounced dead 19 minutes later when efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
Niagara Regional Police Service launched an investigation into the paramedic care at the request of Hamilton police, interviewing more than 60 witnesses.
The Aug. 2 criminal charges are believed to be the first in Ontario, and perhaps Canada, laid against paramedics related to their on-duty work. If convicted,they face up to five years in prison.
At the same time, Hamilton’s paramedic service conducted its own investigation, which concluded with the firings, the union says.
“I definitely got the sense, and the paramedics got the sense, that it was only a process they were going through in order to find fault and not necessarily establish fact,” Posteraro said about the city investigation. “There was minimal support provided and the paramedics felt abandoned by the employer during this process.”
Both paramedics have worked in Hamilton for between eight and 10 years, and have had positive performance appraisals every year, without any past issues, Posteraro said at the time they were charged.
“This latest action sends a disappointing and unfortunate message to the City of Hamilton’s paramedics, and all paramedics provincially, that bad patient outcomes may not only result in criminal charges, but now, termination of employment as well,” he said.