Court Upholds Injured On Duty Pay to Chelsea Firefighter For Heart-Related Condition

Under Massachusetts law, a heart problem that permanently disables a firefighter or police officer from his or her job is presumed to be work related. By contrast, Massachusetts law, as interpreted by the courts, also provides that a heart problem that temporarily disables a firefighter or police officer from working is NOT presumed to be work related. Attorney Leah Barrault persuaded an arbitrator to uphold a past practice in the Chelsea Fire Department of presuming temporary heart problems to be work related. A superior court judge recently affirmed the arbitrator's ruling.

The collective bargaining agreement between Chelsea and the Chelsea Firefighters Local 937, IAFF does not specify whether heart related issues are presumed to be work-related. The agreement, however, also provides that no established past practices can be changed without agreement by the Local. The Union was able to establish that the City established a practice of granting injury-on-duty leave for absences related to heart events. As such, the Arbitrator was persuaded that the City improperly denied IOD status for a heart event that prevented a Fire Lieutenant from working for seven days. He ordered the City to make him whole.

The City appealed the decision to superior court. Courts have very narrow grounds to set aside an arbitrator's decision, which emanates from an informal process intended to be quick, final and binding. In June of this year, Judge Inge had little difficulty concluding that the City's argument alleging that the arbitrator improperly interpreted the contract was beyond the court's purview. The judge agreed that the City was not required to make false representations about the IOD claim to the Department of Revenue. The City declined to appeal the Superior Court's decision.