A FIREFIGHTER and paramedic has alleged she was fired because of her gender and her “racy” social media.
Presley Pritchard, 27, claims she was discriminated against when she was told she had violated two workplace policies on Instagram.
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Pritchard, who has more than 129,000 followers, said she was sacked after a “concerned taxpayer” contacted the fire department about her raunchy social media snaps.
She had been working at Evergreen Fire Rescue in Montana for almost three years before she was sacked in August.
During this time she had gained a major online following for posting inspirational photos showing her life as a firefighter, as well as her other job as a personal trainer.
Some shots were of her in uniform while the others were in tight-fitting gym gear.
But despite the complaint, Presley defended her Instagram account which she said was intended to inspire people to lead healthy lives.
She has said she has never posted anything remotely professional and her capability as a firefighter was never questioned, reports Vice.
Board chairman Brodie Verworn took Presley's side, saying her part-time fitness modelling work did not affect her firefighting work.
Last year, the fire department issued her with verbal and written warnings that she had violated two policies, on reputation and personal gain.
Presley says she had been given permission to take photos promoting her "Firefight Like A Girl" shirts during her time off.
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But she was later warned that if she did not remove all Evergreen Fire-related content from her personal social media pages within five days, she would be fired.
And when she returned to work on August 15 after taking five weeks off for breast augmentation surgery, she was let go.
Now she has filed a wrongful termination claim, suing the department for lost wages and stress.
Presley points out her male colleagues posted pictures of themselves training at the gym.
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