Fired 911 operator sues for $10.5 million

The 911 operator fired for sending an ambulance to a wrong address is suing Fulton County, and says it wasn't her fault a woman died due to the mistake.

Gina Conteh is seeking $10.5 million in the suit, which names the county's former 911 supervisor and three other employees.

In August 2008, Conteh took a call from 39-year-old Darlene Dukes, who was gasping for breath as she called from her apartment in Johns Creek. Conteh instead dispatched an ambulance to southwest Atlanta, and Dukes died from a blood clot in her lung after waiting more than an hour for help to arrive.

During the call, Conteh appeared to be handling multiple calls and did not ask about Dukes' condition until halfway through the 25-minute call.

"I can't breathe," were Dukes' last words heard on the 911 call. Conteh was subsequently fired.

In the lawsuit, filed in August, Conteh's lawyer Rory Starkey contends she took the blame when the Fulton County director, and other upper management team members knew she was working a dispatcher job for which managers had previously deemed her unqualified.

"The county is attempting to place the weight of this incident on a $30,000-a-year employee, " Starkey said in March 2009 hearing before a personnel board. "Training wasn't done right. Management wasn't done right."