Portland area EMT says she was fired for disabling camera in ambulance
In a complaint filed June 26 in Multnomah County Court, Martin says she received an email from her manager in late 2025 informing employees the company planned to begin installing video cameras in some of its rigs and vans as part of a “test phase” where patient treatment would be recorded. The manager also reportedly said that in an effort to protect patient privacy, only video would be recorded.
Martin said that in February when she and her partner were assigned one of the rigs outfitted with cameras, she noticed they were pointed at patients and recording audio in addition to video. She said she and her partner each reached out to their supervisors to report their concerns and ask for clarity, but never heard back.
Based on her own online research of local laws, Martin said she believed the recordings were illegal. She covered the camera in her rig and turned off its microphone. She also said no signage was added to the vehicles that contained the cameras and management continued to ignore employee concerns about protecting patient privacy. A few days later, she said she was contacted by her supervisor regarding an investigation into tampering with one of the cameras. Shortly after, she was placed on administrative leave and later terminated.
3 replies
Metro West Ambulance Service is the name of the company that violated numerous patient, privacy, and employment laws. These are criminals. Lets let them and all the relevant authorities know what we think of corporate criminality, HIPPA, and labor violations.
Yeah ... in what world would that not be a huge HIPAA violation?
Unfortunately, though, with worker protections in the state they're in, getting fired for preventing your company from doing something illegal is probably still a "valid" reason to be fired.
FWIW: HIPAA is only concerned with the transfer of protected health information between certain types of entities. While this certainly seems like it would be a violation of some privacy law, HIPAA likely wouldn't cover it.