Excerpts from the patch.com:
The estate for a Hinsdale firefighter who took her own life is suing the village and her supervisor, alleging she was the victim of discrimination based on sex.
Nicole Hladik, a graduate of Lyons Township High School, was 25. She was the only female firefighter in the department and the third in its history. Hladik, who died July 21, 2020, started with the department in 2019. Her husband, Daniel Zaborowski, the court-appointed administrator of Hladik’s estate, is named as the plaintiff in the federal lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Hladik wrote shortly before her death, “Work has destroyed me” and “I cannot take one more single day. Almost everyone at work will only be relieved.” The lawsuit said she added, “P.S. You’re welcome Lieutenant, I’m gone. I’m no longer your problem. You win.”
In a statement on Tuesday, the village said it conducted an investigation into the circumstances that led to Hladik’s death, finding that the fire department treated her fairly and respectfully. During her first six months, she was assigned to the department’s Gold shift, where she regularly met and exceeded the legitimate expectations as a probationary firefighter, the lawsuit said. She was on track to complete her probation and become a permanent firefighter.
In early 2020, she was moved to the Black shift, with McCarthy as her supervisor. In that shift, the village and McCarthy engaged in a pattern of conduct to break her and force her to quit because of her sex, the lawsuit said. She faced constant hostility, hazing and abuse amounting to sexual discrimination, according to court documents. The lawsuit said the department placed terms on her employment not imposed on male firefighters. For example, it said, McCarthy publicly ridiculed her through verbal confrontations and humiliating interrogations on her knowledge of fire services, all of which was designed to make her appear inept. McCarthy also questioned her competence and told her to quit in the presence of male firefighters, according to the lawsuit.
At least one time, the lawsuit said, Hladik was required to wear a blindfold to operate a firehose in a simulated fire. She was given a failing score and told she should quit, despite the impossibility of the task, it said. As Hladik closed in on the final two weeks of her probation, McCarthy subjected her to a performance improvement plan that was calculated to embarrass her and discourage her from remaining with the department, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit said the plaintiff exhausted all administrative remedies through the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, with a complaint filed in 2021.
The lawsuit maintains that Hladik met and exceeded the legitimate expectations for employment with the fire department. The village denied that contention.
No trial date has been set in the litigation. The plaintiff is seeking compensatory and economic damages.
A couple of months after Hladik’s death, the Village Board voted to authorize $60,000 to be spent on an investigation into the fire department. That limit was later lifted to $110,000. The village ended up spending $103,252 on the investigation. It was conducted by the law firm, Chicago-based law firm Cotsirilos, Tighe, Streicker, Poulos and Campbell.
In Tuesday’s statement, the village extended its condolences to Hladik’s family. It said it hired an independent investigator to examine and try to understand the circumstances leading to her death. The inquiry included internal interviews and reviews of relevant records. The investigator requested interviews with Hladik’s family to include information for the review and for any records that may shed light on the situation. Unfortunately, it said, the family declined multiple requests.
“The evidence found in the investigation reveals that Ms. Hladik was treated in a respectful and fair manner and that her performance requirements were the same as anyone in her position,” the statement said. “While Ms. Hladik’s death is a terrible loss for everyone, the evidence and interviews indicate that Ms. Hladik’s work environment was consistent with the high standards that all employees are held to by the village. The village is prepared to unequivocally refute any allegations to the contrary and aggressively defend the lawsuit filed by the Hladik family.”
The village decided to keep the investigation’s report secret, denying a Patch public records request. It cited attorney-client privilege.
The village has said little about the inquiry. In a September 2020 interview, Brad Bloom, the village’s assistant manager, said “some operational issues came to light. We thought we would benefit from an independent review. There are no allegations at this time against any particular member of the organization. There are no integrity issues.”
thanks Scott
#1 by Mike on December 17, 2021 - 3:19 PM
Nicole’s suicide should not have happened. What goes on with this job and the BS that employers let slide needs to really be looked at. I hope her family wins this lawsuit and it opens the eyes of city managers and fire chiefs. Yes we are hard on candidates but there needs to be a line drawn as to what’s acceptable and what’s not. Blind folding someone is different then blacking out a mask. Ridiculing or even disciplining someone in public shouldn’t happen. If I were the village I would be asking how she did well her first 6 months and then what happened. There are a lot of turds on this job that management just turns their head and looks the other way because they don’t want to be the bad guy, then something like this happens.
As Mike L. Said most places don’t bring in outside people and then double the budget unless things aren’t on par. Eventually the whole story will come out and everyone will know exactly what Nicole we dealing with. And if her performance was so bad why wait 2 weeks for her probation to end to fire her. They could have fired her any day.
#2 by Rich s. on December 16, 2021 - 3:53 PM
1st and foremost any loss of life in any form is a sad occurrence. 2nd this profession is not a for everyone male or female. And just because you wanted to do it your whole life doesn’t ensure you’re going to be successful in this field. It’s a tough and sometimes terrible job, you have to trust those around you with your life and vice/versa. The military comparison is accurate in that respect, an individual’s probation time is difficult for this reason it is intended to show the trainer and trainee their limitations and areas needed to work on and yes if the individual is able to do the job. Sometimes it’s for the best that a candidate is discharged from the organization. This is serious work people die it is NOT for everyone.
#3 by Retired FF on December 16, 2021 - 3:07 PM
Bottom line, we NEED to take care of our own!
#4 by Gerald on December 15, 2021 - 9:54 PM
Crabby,
You might be done commenting, but you’re still reading, no doubt. I’m sure she did talk to those people. And what does it change if she did?. You’ll certainly never know, and we have no right to know.
Regardless, what does it matter if she didn’t? Shouldn’t we in the fire service take a lesson from this? There’s no conspiracy against you, don’t try to pass blame. “What you said is what you said” is right. There’s a long line that has said the same, but all of us should aim to be the change we want to see What good is everyone going home if this is what can happen after? We can, and must, do better.
#5 by Crabbymilton on December 15, 2021 - 8:02 PM
She made the choice to end her life. Did she seek help from friends, family, or her pastor?
What I said is what I said so I don’t want a conspiracy here that’s my final word on this post.
#6 by E. C. Darroll on December 15, 2021 - 7:00 PM
Crabby….”overly sensitive.” Listen to yourself, just feed into that “hysterical female” narrative, wow. You are part of the problem. We didn’t need one but here’s another great reason to ignore your rantings.
#7 by Austin on December 15, 2021 - 6:52 PM
The problem is Crabby this is something she wanted to do, and probably grew up wanting to do it. So if you spend your life wanting to do something, you can’t just walk away. Nor should she. She probably felt trapped that the one thing she wanted to do was taking a toll on her mental health, and probably questioning her self worth. You don’t need to have other issues in your life to take your own life, and that’s an antiquated view point. Like others have mentioned many professions have high suicide rates. Another that comes to mind is chefs. People have this notion that you have to be an ass, or overly aggressive to “break through” in order to succeed. And that is a dangerous game to play. Many who don’t take their own lives turn to the bottle or drugs. It has nothing to do with being weak emotionally, its about being belittled or bullied day in and day out. That could turn the toughest person you know into an alcoholic, or worse.
#8 by Crabbymilton on December 15, 2021 - 6:12 PM
I won’t justify any deliberate abuse nor will I downplay the sadness of this young lady taking her life. But she wasn’t locked in. Not everyone is cut out for every job so we’ll never know for sure if she was overly sensitive or her training instructor was a turd. Regardless, it’s very sad that she took her life and it’s possible she had other tragic issues unrelated to this going on.
#9 by Gerald on December 15, 2021 - 4:56 PM
Sure, Crabby, lets further the comparison between the fire service and the military, since its worked so well so far…
The fire service is not the military, and shouldn’t strive to imitate many of it’s training practices. Military basic training aims to break recruits down so they can be built back up to follow orders with little of their own critical thinking (whether that is appropriate for military basic training is a debate we can have elsewhere). Though what we do is dangerous, it is not combat, and we should be training critical thinkers for the fire scene, and compassionate and empathetic healthcare workers. Bullets come a little faster than structure fires and EMS calls, we should tune our training as such. “The military has it harder” or “I went through it, so should they” is no excuse for outdated or inapporpriate training practices.
As Ray says, suicide rates are high across the fire service, LEOs, and the military. From day one we should be looking out for the mental health of our members, including/especially our probies. If we instill that value in them, maybe we can start to break the cycle.
#10 by Mike L on December 15, 2021 - 3:28 PM
It is a shame if this is true. It is suspect when a municipality or government entity retains a “3rd party” to investigate things. It has been proven these “3rd party/independent” investigators usually report what the agency wants to hear. Towards the end of the article the village admits there were some “operational” things that came to light that they wanted white washed. I mean, “investigated”.
It is ignorant to suggest she should have just walked away, especially if the harassment allegations prove true. We have suffered through way too many Firefighter suicides for a variety of reasons, a number of which come back to instances of bullying and harassment. And it is not a matter of a younger, softer generation for those who want to make more ignorant comments about character and suicides.
#11 by Ray Stantz on December 15, 2021 - 3:26 PM
The military has high suicide rates. All law enforcement and fire services have high suicide rates. Your comparison does no justice for anyone who commits suicide and undercuts all the efforts “us” first responders do effortlessly everyday to serve everyone with mental health issues. Regardless of what her reason was, as first responders we have an obligation to the public, to our brothers and sisters in uniform and ourselves to attempt and prevent the loss of life by any means. Comments like yours contribute to the stigmas related to mental health of all first responders and their ability to seek help. Not everyone is able walk away.
#12 by crabbymilton on December 15, 2021 - 12:40 PM
Everybody who joins the military is told in basic training that they stink and are no good along with other disparaging comments. While it’s very sad that she took her own life, she could have just walked away unlike a military recruit where that’s not an easy undertaking.