2 Pittsburgh EMS officials fired amid allegations of falsified overtime

Two high-ranking officials in Pittsburgh’s EMS bureau have been fired amid allegations of falsified overtime reports.

“You had somebody kind of fudging their time card to get extra money,” Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, told TribLive.

Coghill, who chairs council’s public safety committee, confirmed the person who submitted inaccurate overtime expenses was fired, along with the supervisor tasked with approving those costs.

Emily Bourne, a public safety spokeswoman, said a division chief and a district chief “faced discipline” and are no longer employed by the city.

Officials did not identify the people involved in the incident or provide details about how much money the city paid for overtime hours that were not actually worked.

Mayor Ed Gainey’s office referred questions to public safety officials.

“It’s just disheartening and upsetting,” Coghill said.

He told TribLive he was particularly disappointed a city employee would swindle the city out of extra overtime money as Pittsburgh struggles to afford “exorbitant” premium pay costs amid serious financial challenges.

The city has outspent its overtime budget by millions of dollars this year. Officials have said they believe Gainey’s proposed 2026 budget underfunds overtime next year, particularly for public safety bureaus that will be called upon for the NFL Draft in April.

Coghill said he does not believe the abuse of overtime is a widespread issue. Still, he hopes officials investigate and recoup any money improperly paid to the fired worker.

“We need to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” he said.