Superior Court Decision Affirms Civil Service Victory for Veteran Fire Fighter By Attorneys Leah Barrault and Ian Russell
In April 2009, the City of Attleboro terminated an injured firefighter because it claimed that surveillance video showed that he was not as disabled as he claimed and could have, despite his claims, returned to work. The fire fighter had suffered two serious injuries in the line of duty that disabled him from working as a firefighter. He went through three medical procedures and was in the midst of participating in a work hardening program so he could hopefully return to work.
The City never had no practice or opportunity for the fire fighter to perform “light duty” – a restricted assignment that could be performed without risking further injury. The fire fighter had, as many employees do, a second job. His worked for a maintenance company in an administrative capacity. The job involved no manual labor and minimal physical activity for the fire fighter.
Surveillance video obtained by the City’s insurer showed the fire fighter working at his second job and, at one point, allegedly showed him tossing heavy drywall from the bed of his truck. Based on this video, the City ordered him to return to full duty. The fire fighter's doctor advised against returning to work, given that he had yet to adequately recover. The fire fighter then went on sick leave. The City decided to terminate the then-50-year old , claiming that the fire fighter misrepresented his medical condition in order to extend his City-paid disability leave and that he wrongly withheld his outside employment.
In June 2011, the Civil Service Commission reversed the termination, finding that the City relied upon several factual errors and illogical conclusions. For instance, the Commission found that the fire fighter never concealed his outside employment and his administrative work was not inconsistent with being unable to work as a full duty fire fighter. Further, the surveillance video, contrary to the City, did not show him hoisting heavy dry wall, but relatively light fiberboard. The City made other erroneous conclusions from the surveillance video, failing to notice that footage of a fire fighter helping an injured biker showed him bending his uninjured knee, rather than the injured knee as the City claimed. The surveillance video did not support the claims that he was able to return to full duty at that time or that he misrepresented his medical condition. The Commission found the fire fighter to be an honest and hard-working individual who diligently followed his doctor’s advice for treatment that would restore him to full duty.
Despite a well-reasoned decision that thoroughly eviscerated the City’s basis for discharge, the City chose to appeal the case to Superior Court. Late last year, the Superior Court dismissed the City’s appeal and upheld the Commission’s decision that the City’s termination violated civil service law and that the City must reinstate him, and provide lost wages and benefits.
