Lawsuit by Erie's 1st female firefighter scheduled

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A judge says a wrongful firing lawsuit filed by Erie’s first female firefighter will go to trial in January.

Forty-nine-year-old Mary Wolski sued in 2008. City officials say she was dismissed for setting fire to clothes in a bathtub in December 2006, in her father’s vacant home.

The Erie Times-News reports today that Wolski wants the city to reinstate her and pay her lost wages. She was hired in 1997.

Wolski has acknowledged setting the fire in hopes the smoke would kill her, but says she was battling severe depression. She claims the firing violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The trial is scheduled to begin on January 30, in federal court in Erie.