Legal battle dismissed between firefighter, paramedic suing each other
A legal battle has been dismissed between a city firefighter and paramedic who sued each other over allegations of racism and defamation.
On Nov. 30, in Manitoba's Court of King's Bench, Justice Herbert Rempel dismissed the legal actions between firefighter Kelcey French and paramedic Nishanth Jayaranjan.
Both French and Jayaranjan will be paying their own costs, according to a written judgment.
It brings to a close a legal battle between the two men that started more than two years ago.
French first filed a statement of claim against Jayaranjan, alleging he was the target of a 'defamatory campaign' stemming from an Oct. 7, 2020, emergency call.
READ MORE: Winnipeg firefighter sues paramedic for $600K alleging defamation in accusations of racism
According to the claim, French attended to an Indigenous woman who was suffering from a self-inflicted stab wound to the neck.
The claim says when French got in the ambulance Jayaranjan was "hostile and aggressive," insulting him with "profanity and slurs." It goes on to allege Jayaranjan, "deliberately falsified a patient care report" to make it look like he did not care for the victim promptly, and sent an email to the fire chief and 10 others saying French refused to help Jayaranjan during the emergency call, alleging this was "racially motivated."
The events prompted a third-party review of the incident.
The claim goes on to allege Jayaranjan sent the email to a Winnipeg reporter leading to an article about the incident, and used an anonymous Reddit account to post, "further defamatory comments."
Jayaranjan then filed a statement of defence and counterclaim against French, denying the allegations in his claim.
READ MORE: Winnipeg paramedic files counterclaim in defamation suit filed by firefighter
Jayaranjan's defence and counterclaim alleged French had been the one who was hostile and aggressive, and did not assess the patient. The counterclaim said Jayaranjan believed French's refusal to provide service and his hostile behaviour was motivated by complaints he previously brought forward relating to “racism within the WFPS.”
The written judgment does not disclose the reasons why the matter is being dismissed.
None of the allegations in the claim and counterclaim were tested in court.
Derek Olson, the lawyer representing Jayaranjan, told CTV News the matter had been resolved but was not able to provide any further details.
CTV News has reached out French's lawyer for comment.
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