Mitchell v. Village of Barrington

Plaintiff, employed as paramedic for Village, was injured on the job; Village found that Plaintiff's injury prevented her from being able to perform her duties and terminated her. Village denied Plaintiff's request for health care benefits under Public Safety Employee Benefits Act. Unsworn civilian paramedics are not considered firefighters under amended definition of a firefighter contained in the Act. Because Village had a rational basis to treat full-time firefighters and sworn fighters/paramedics differently than civilian paramedics, Plaintiff cannot state claim for equal protection. Court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Village. (McBRIDE and BURKE, concurring.)