Pennsylvania Firefighter Sues City Officials Alleging Gender and Disability Discrimination

A female firefighter in New Castle, Pennsylvania has filed suit alleging ongoing harassment, discrimination, and retaliation by members of the New Castle Fire Department, including the assistant chief and a union officer. The complaint, filed by Annie M. Papa, claims she was targeted because of her gender and disability, and that the defendants “masterminded, organized, [and] recruited others” to isolate, harass, and undermine her in an effort “to make the plaintiff quit or have her terminated on false grounds” 

The original complaint was filed in Lawrence County Court of Common Pleas and removed by the department to the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Papa, who was hired in October 2024 and is the first female firefighter in the 155-year history of the department, alleges extensive mistreatment, including being shunned, denied training, subject to false allegations, and physically abused. Examples of the mistreatment include:

• Organized Shunning and Sabotage. The plaintiff alleges that members of the department were instructed to shun her, refuse to train her, and document any perceived mistakes in a coordinated effort to undermine her confidence and performance.
• Fabricated Accusations and False Narratives. She claims false allegations were created to question her job competence and to justify her dismissal, including allegations that she was physically unfit or unable to perform certain duties, despite having already passed previous evaluations.
• Retaliatory Creation of an Unprecedented Test. According to the complaint, after she filed an ADA-related grievance, the department required her to take a special exam, allegedly designed so she would fail and could be terminated. The test was described as “a trap she could not escape,” with insufficient time, equipment, or guidance provided.
• Physical and Emotional Isolation. The plaintiff asserts that she was physically isolated from her peers and, at times, prevented from performing work duties such as training or responding to calls, with the goal of making her appear incompetent or forcing her to quit.
• Verbal and Behavioral Harassment. The complaint includes allegations of humiliating treatment, hostile comments, and intimidation—both in person and via messages circulated among staff—creating what she describes as an unsafe and discriminatory work environment.

She further claims that certain members of the department conspired to fabricate performance issues and devised an illegal skills test “designed to give them reason to terminate her which did not exist.” 

According to the complaint, the alleged harassment escalated after Papa filed an ADA accommodation request and a hostile work environment complaint. Quoting from the complaint:

• The plaintiff, although very physically fit and in the top of her collegiate class is disabled with Asperger’s, and a combination of OCD which, although making her brilliant, she is different, and sometimes socially awkward.

She claims the fire department failed to investigate her complaint, and instead placed her on unpaid leave pursuing the disputed test as a pretext for termination. Papa contends that “no other firefighter has ever had to do this” and that the test was “a trap she could not escape” as she was barred from the station for over a year and given insufficient time and resources to prepare.

The suit seeks damages as well as immediate equitable relief, including a temporary restraining order and an injunction to prevent her termination while her EEOC complaint is pending. She argues that without court intervention, she will suffer “irreparable harm” to her career before other remedies can take effect. 

Attached is the state court complaint. The removal document is 883 pages long and is not included. Also below is the removal notice.