Dena Suihkonen

TOWER — The city council voted 3-0 on Dec. 29 to terminate ambulance director Dena Suihkonen, who was paralyzed in a freak accident at a Fourth of July community picnic.
Her union has since filed a grievance over the termination, alleging she was not provided due process or offered accommodations required under federal disability law.
Mayor Dave Setterberg made the motion to terminate Suihkonen’s employment effective immediately and to release her from the position of ambulance director during the special meeting.
The motion passed with votes from Setterberg and council members Bob Anderson and Kevin Norby. Councilor John Van DeVoort, Suihkonen’s brother, abstained from voting. Council member Joe Morin was absent.
The termination followed weeks of uncertainty about Suihkonen’s status with the city. She had been on unpaid administrative leave and had requested accommodation to return to work in a partial capacity, focusing on administrative duties. She had also requested to apply for extended unpaid leave through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
The city based its termination decision on a medical assessment indicating Suihkonen cannot perform emergency response duties.
But Suihkonen disputes the city’s characterization, arguing that much of the ambulance director position involves administrative work she is capable of performing. The position includes duties such as reporting, grant writing, billing, payroll, and scheduling.
“I didn’t do anything to make the service worse. I made the service better,” Suihkonen said in an interview this week. She noted that the ambulance service’s financial situation had improved under her leadership before her accident.
“We went from having to watch it month to month to being okay,” she said.
During the council meeting, Anderson suggested the city consider retaining Suihkonen in a reduced capacity to handle duties that are “more cognitive in nature,” which he said “would certainly meet a need of ours and allow for more transition planning versus an abrupt change.”
Setterberg acknowledged that possibility, saying the city could potentially contract with Suihkonen as a consultant in the future.
“Obviously, Dena has a lot of knowledge. She knows the business,” he said. “There potentially could be some value.”
The decision leaves open questions about the future of the ambulance director position. When asked if the city planned to hire someone into the same role, Setterberg said the council would be “looking at” the position but couldn’t provide specifics.
“Right now, we just kind of have to deal with what we have,” he said.
Suihkonen said the union’s grievance centers on allegations that the city failed to follow proper termination procedures and did not consider reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“I was not given a Loudermill[hearing],” Suihkonen said, referring to the pre-termination hearing required for public employees under the U.S. Supreme Court case Loudermill v. Cleveland Board of Education. “They did not do anything as far as ADA rights.”
Suihkonen said she had proposed accommodations that would have allowed her to continue in an administrative capacity. Earlier this fall, her union proposed a letter of understanding that would have exempted her from on-call hours in exchange for a $9,500 reduction in her annual salary.
According to Suihkonen, her union representative tried repeatedly to set up meetings with city officials to discuss the proposal, but the city did not respond.
“I tried to make things easier for the city at all times,” she said. “On-call was not part of the job description but was part of the union contract.”
Suihkonen also cited accessibility barriers at city facilities that prevented her from even attempting to return to work.
“I couldn’t even go to the ambulance hall because it isn’t ADA accessible,” she said. “At the office, I had to have two people with me because somebody had to pull the heavy door open and another to push me up a non-ADA compliant ramp.”
She said billing lapsed during her medical leave after the city placed her on unrequested administrative leave.
“Nothing was billed again. No money coming in for months at a time,” she said.
Suihkonen’s relationship with the council has been strained at times. In 2022, she exercised her right to join a union, a decision that reportedly did not sit well with some council members.
“When I chose to become union, there were some councilors who weren’t happy about that,” Suihkonen said. “In some ways, I feel like they felt this was a good way to get rid of me and my union.”
She said she believes the city used her disability as an opportunity to remove her from the position.
“In my opinion, I was not given due process. They could have easily done things the correct way and at least tried to look at ADA-compliant ways I could do my job.”
Suihkonen said the termination has been devastating both professionally and personally. Since her accident occurred while she was acting in her official capacity at a city event, she said the city’s response has felt particularly harsh.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I became handicapped. I lost my ability to walk, and I did so as I was acting as the ambulance director,” she said. “The city has kind of thrown me away. The city has not been there for me at all.”
Suihkonen said she’s uncertain about her future with the city even if the grievance process results in her reinstatement.
“The problem is I don’t know if I trust the city to allow me to come back,” she said. “If I came back again, they would get rid of me again. That’s a scary fact.”
At the council meeting, Setterberg acknowledged the difficulty of the situation.
“It’s a sad situation, you know, and it’s hardest for Dena and everybody,” he said. “All of her service is greatly appreciated.”