Judge dismisses ex-Woodbury paramedic’s lawsuit that claimed police tried to get him to inject resident with ketamine

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit a former Woodbury paramedic filed against the city in which he alleged a police sergeant tried to get him to inject an “unwilling” resident with the powerful sedative ketamine, which he refused to do.

Joseph Paul Baker said in his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota in August 2020, that Woodbury public safety leaders retaliated against him.

The city of Woodbury filed a motion last year, presenting evidence about why they said the lawsuit should be dismissed without going to a civil trial. Senior U.S. District Judge David Doty agreed late last month.

The question of paramedics injecting people with ketamine during police incidents has been a national issue, and Baker’s attorney said he continues to get calls about the practice in Minnesota. Last month, in Colorado, a jury convicted two paramedics for giving a fatal overdose of ketamine to Elijah McClain, 23, in 2019. Officers had stopped McClain after receiving a complaint about a suspicious person.

On Tuesday, attorney Vicki A. Hruby of of Jardine, Logan, & O’Brien PLLP, representing the city of Woodbury, said the city “believes the court’s decision was well-reasoned and that a jury would have reached the same conclusions that the judge did.”

“The court found Baker’s patient-care complaints were without merit as ‘he was not ordered to administer ketamine’ and the responding officers defused a tense situation without the use of a sedative,” she continued in a Tuesday statement. “We appreciate that the court agreed that Baker’s allegations of retaliation are likewise without merit.”

Baker’s attorney, Kenneth Udoibok, wrote in the lawsuit that there had been “public outcry for many years in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan areas specifically and the country more generally about paramedics who have injected unwilling Americans with ketamine. Forced administrations of ketamine by paramedics at the urging of police officers become perfect crimes when paramedics refuse to tell the truth about who’s urging they administer the sedatives.”

Udoibok said Tuesday about the lawsuit that he and Baker “respectfully disagree with the court because this is not the type of case that should be summarily dismissed. At least, a jury ought to decide whether or not the city of Woodbury conducted itself lawfully.”

Ketamine allegation

In Doty’s summary of the case, he wrote that a Woodbury police sergeant responded to a call in 2019 involving someone in a mental health crisis. Paramedics, including Baker, were also called.

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The sergeant said he saw the person was “extremely volatile” and asked Baker to prepare ketamine to calm the person, if needed. The sergeant and his partner were able to remove the person from the scene without the use of a sedative.

“Baker was upset that (the sergeant) put him in a position to administer ketamine when he had not been able to personally assess the patient,” Doty wrote in summarizing a deposition. Baker didn’t know the sergeant was also a certified paramedic “and therefore able to assess the patient’s need for ketamine.”

Baker also said “that ‘on a number of occasions,’ another unidentified paramedic directed Baker to ‘get [his] ketamine ready’ before he was able to assess the patient,” Doty wrote in summarizing a deposition. “Baker refused each time. … He now contends, without factual support, that the city commonly forces ketamine on its citizens,” Doty wrote.

Udoibok said Tuesday that Baker had evidence, based on his own experience as a paramedic when he was asked to administer ketamine.

Judge: Rights not violated

In May 2019, Baker told colleagues in an EMS education group that he was concerned paramedics may not have attended proper or sufficient courses to maintain their required certifications. He said in his deposition in the lawsuit that he was unaware of any paramedic who didn’t have proper certification during his time working for Woodbury.

Baker claimed in his lawsuit that Woodbury fire and EMS leaders — he named now-retired Fire Chief John Wallgren, Chris Klein, who is now EMS fire deputy chief – assistant public safety director, and now-retired Woodbury EMS commander J.B. Guiton — “retaliated against him for questioning the EMS training records and complaining about” a police sergeant’s request to prepare ketamine by placing him on a performance improvement plan, which he said was a violation of his right to free speech under the First Amendment, Doty wrote in his summary.

The legal question was whether Baker’s stated concerns about the EMS training records and the sergeant’s request were made within the scope of his duties. “The record establishes that they were, despite Baker’s insistence that he was acting simply as a concerned citizen regarding both matters,” Doty wrote. Public employees who make statements in accordance with their official duties are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, past cases have found.

To Baker’s other claims, Doty wrote that the facts don’t establish “he suffered an adverse employment action.”

Baker found employment elsewhere and “this whole experience” led him to enroll in law school, which he’s attending while working as a paramedic, Udoibok said.

Baker agreed to waive his right to appeal the court’s decision in exchange for the city waiving the right to seek taxable costs, according to a court document filed Friday.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated Chris Klein’s current title.

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