Firefighter settles lawsuit with St. Paul for $528,432

A St. Paul firefighter's federal legal claims of discrimination because of his limited eyesight merit a $528,432 payout, according to a settlement reached by attorneys for the city and plaintiff William Eldredge.

The amount would be the second-largest paid by the city in an employment lawsuit. The settlement won't be final until the City Council signs off Wednesday, but that approval is expected because the amount is within the limit previously set by the council.

As part of the legal settlement, Eldredge will become the department's first health and wellness coordinator and receive a slight bump in pay. He also agreed to retire in February 2013.

Generally, City Attorney Sara Grewing and council members tout a tough stance against settling lawsuits.

"Our whole goal in defending this lawsuit was protecting the public. With this settlement, he won't ever be fighting fires; he won't be on a rig," Grewing said, adding that the creation of a health and wellness coordinator also was among the city's goals.

In 1992, Eldredge was diagnosed with macular degeneration, later specifically identified as Stargardt's disease. He is unable to read small print without magnification, has driver's license restrictions and experiences distortion at the center of his vision, according to his federal lawsuit filed in August 2009.

Eldredge, 53, began work as a St. Paul firefighter and emergency medical technician in July 1994. His lawsuit said that despite his vision problems, he successfully performed his duties as a firefighter and EMT.

A month later, Eldredge was reassigned to "light duty" that caused a "substantial" reduction in pay, overtime and retirement benefits, the complaint said. The new job also was a "visually strenuous" audio-visual position in the training and development center of the department.

For the following few years, Eldredge fought his reassignments with complaints in state and local venues with varying success. The city terminated his employment for the fourth time in February 2009. Two months later, in April 2009, the state Department of Human Rights determined the city had engaged in "unlawful disability discrimination and retaliation," the complaint said. In July 2009, the city's Civil Service Commission also determined the city wasn't justified in terminating Eldredge, and he filed the lawsuit.

Eldredge hasn't battled fires in years. He earns about $65,000 annually.

In 1994, St. Paul agreed to pay 11 black firefighters and attorneys $690,000 to settle an employment discrimination and racial harassment lawsuit.

Earlier this year, the city approved a $270,000 police brutality settlement with a woman who required more than 300 stitches after she said a police officer threw her through a glass door and then falsely claimed she caused her own injuries by tripping.