A Woodford County EMT has sued the county, alleging that sexual harassment inside the local emergency medical service went unchecked and that she faced retaliation after reporting it. The complaint describes unwanted messages, explicit images and alleged physical contact involving EMS coworkers. It also puts the county’s leadership under scrutiny over how supervisors responded.
Naomi Branham filed the 20-page lawsuit last Wednesday in Woodford Circuit Court, according to The Courier-Journal. The suit names Woodford County, Judge-Executive James Kay and the county Fiscal Court, as reported by LEX 18; Kay said he was named only in his official capacity and that the lawsuit does not allege personal wrongdoing by him or fiscal court members. The fiscal court held a special meeting Tuesday, met with attorneys in executive session and adjourned without taking public action.
What The Lawsuit Says Happened Inside Woodford EMS
Branham began working for Woodford County EMS about six months after graduating from high school in 2023, and the lawsuit says she was the first graduate of her school’s EMT program. According to a Woodford County Fiscal Court document, the county provides instructors for an Emergency Medical Services Career Pathway. She alleges that a paramedic who had previously been her high school teacher sent her an unwanted sexual meme in November 2024, then later sent pictures and videos of himself touching himself while at work. The complaint says she told him she did not want to receive photos of his penis.
The allegations escalate in the complaint from digital messages to physical encounters. Branham says the paramedic bypassed the code lock on an EMS bedroom, lay on top of her and later texted that he might unintentionally poke her after she asked him to leave; she also alleges he smacked her butt. A separate fellow EMT allegedly sent her a Snapchat presenting himself as a sugar daddy, offering a menu of sexual acts and money.
Woodford EMS Director Freeman Bailey told The Courier-Journal that the paramedic may have sent one explicit image accidentally, did not mean harm and considered Branham and the paramedic close friends. Bailey also said Branham had responsibility for saying no, while describing the allegations as a he-said-she-said dispute without physical evidence. Branham says she reported the conduct to her boyfriend and tried to ignore the harassment because she feared getting anyone in trouble.
A County EMS Department Now Facing A Civil Claim
Woodford County describes its EMS operation as a full-service advanced life-support department providing round-the-clock coverage, with stations in Versailles and Midway and Freeman Bailey listed as its director. The lawsuit alleges that high-level EMS supervision was overwhelmingly male and that the department failed to take appropriate action after learning about the alleged harassment. Branham is seeking accountability through a civil case, not making a criminal accusation against the county.
In a separate Kentucky Court of Justice matter dated Aug. 10, 2020, a filing included allegations titled “Harassment and Retaliation Against Katherine Schulz.”
The county’s public government page identifies James Kay as judge-executive and the Fiscal Court as Woodford County’s governing body. At publication, the court docket contained no answer responding to Branham’s complaint, so the allegations had not been tested through the county’s formal defense or a ruling on the merits. The case is expected to move through the ordinary civil process of responses, motions and potential discovery.
